Fade to Blue
by mika zero-zero twenty-one
Summary: Diamond only wanted company. So one of her new cyborgs gets a message from a certian villian, and goes off to destroy some certian rebels. But what that villian never anticipated was that he made a huge mistake. Meet 0017! Very old - read at your own risk
1. Chapter One

Greetings!  
I've finally gotten this thing going, and thus started Fade to Blue. For you people who need a disclaimer, here it is: I don't own Cyborg 009. Do I want to? DUH!  
  
And so, I begin Fade to Blue!  
  
*******  
  
Diamond was tired. It had been at least a week since she finished the first two, and she hadn't slept since. Her adrenaline was still pumped, but her body yearned for sleep. No, she told herself. No, you must finish four before you can sleep. Finish up until May, and then sleep.  
  
But I don't want to wait that long, she told herself.  
  
It was starting again; she was fighting with herself. No, Diamond thought. She pushed the voices out of her head and continued her work on Aquamarine. Aquamarine was the gemstone of March, so after this, she'd only have to create Emerald. Then she could finally give her body that long-deserved sleep. Only one and a half to go.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Garnet was outside with Amethyst. Garnet appeared to be meditating while Amethyst was well, being Amethyst. Having to be the second of a large series sucked. But hey, she was second oldest, but not modeled that way. Either was Garnet. They were meant to look like teenagers. They'd been told by Diamond that Aquamarine was meant to be the youngest of them all.  
  
In addition to this, she'd have a serious amount of spunk  
  
That meant disturbance, thought Garnet. She was a quiet person, unlike the next model. Garnet's dark blood-colored hair streamed out behind her in a sudden gust of wind. It had been made to be between shoulder and waist- length, and that was fine with her. It was Amethyst that had to take care of her waist-length purple hair.  
  
It was about midnight now, and Diamond was starting to feel sick. Oh well, she thought, I've finished with Aquamarine. Besides, I need to go to sleep now. Not in another week, now. So instead of waiting to climb up to her bedroom, she just fell asleep in the swivel chair she had been using as a small tray.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Aquamarine awoke with a start, already programmed to know where she was. She was in a small basement laboratory, owned by Diamond. Judging by the looks of her creator, she wasn't in the best of shape. Her white hair hung limply around her body and her face was pale. Aquamarine smiled and placed Diamond on the bed she had just been laying on. Then, Aquamarine went out to find her "sisters". When she found them, however, they were sleeping. Aquamarine checked the clock. Duh, girl, it's 12:30 in the morning. Go to sleep. So she curled up on the armchair in living room and fell asleep.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
The next morning when Diamond woke up, she felt a little better. Evidently, Aquamarine had woken up. She had remembered falling asleep on the swivel chair, not on this bed. And god damnit, she thought, I crushed a paper. Diamond decided to make breakfast for the first time in a month. Now that she had more than one person to feed, why shouldn't she make breakfast? Garnet, Amethyst and Aquamarine had been successfully made, with no glitches so far. Besides, she thought, pushing glitches from her head, I need to eat. I've been living off hard candy and soda for two weeks. Go get some decent food.  
  
Garnet woke up Amethyst when she smelled something. She, personally, had woken up when she smelled food. Honest-to-god food. Not that cheap microwave dinner crap, but home-cooked food. But when Garnet got to Amethyst's room, she was wide-awake. "I'm guessing you smelled it to, then?" Amethyst asked.  
  
"Yeah. It smells wonderful, compared to recent events.", Garnet replied, sounding like a normal person, not some goth.  
  
"Well, we'll be wanted sooner or later, so let's get down there." Amethyst said with a large smile.  
  
When they got downstairs, they were shocked to see a young girl curled up in the armchair. She had light blue-green hair that was short. It was tied up into two small pigtails about halfway up her head. She was wearing a sweatshirt that matched her hair and a pair of denim shorts. As soon as she heard them, she sat up and smiled. "Ohan gatsu! I'm Aquamarine!" Aquamarine told Garnet and Amethyst.  
  
"The one with all the spunk. I'm Amethyst, and this is Garnet." Amethyst returned Aquamarine's greeting. "And I smell breakfast. Let's go get some?"  
  
The three cyborgs walked into the kitchen and found a white-haired, pale- purple-eyed, not-quite-teenager cooking breakfast. Diamond seemed to not take notice that the first three of her creations had smelled her cooking. Oh god, she thought, I've spent to long at a computer. I need to go back to gemstones, she thought with a large smile. "Brea....oh, you figured it out, huh?" Diamond stated, wheeling around. "Well, sit down, for crying out loud!"  
  
As Diamond dished out the scrambled eggs, Aquamarine looked at herself. Sure, she was a normal-looking eleven year-old, but she wasn't human. From looking at the computers last night, she had amazing underwater abilities. Not that the computer had said all of them, of course, she had to find them. It had said the same things about her sisters. Garnet had the power of shattering walls with just a touch of her palm. Amethyst was able to see people's personalities, and see if they were lying or not. "Earth to Aquamarine, come in, Aquamarine." Garnet's voice penetrated Aquamarine's thoughts. "Breakfast isn't going to be around forever. Eat it before it freezes over." The girl named for March's birthstone noticed that there was food on a plate in front of her. She began to eat.  
  
"Did I tell you why I named you for gemstones, and why I made you in the first place?" Diamond thought aloud, asking herself. The other three at the table wondered, too. Why had she?  
  
"Tell us!" Amethyst exclaimed, for she really wanted to know why.  
  
"When I was very little, my parents told me I had magic. It was no ordinary magic, either, judging by their voices. I had the ability to summon and use gemstones.  
  
"I also had a sister, named Amber. We had to be the closest sisters could get. On her seventh birthday, she was kidnapped. My parents were totally driven mad by it. All they did was look for Amber. They completely forgot about me. So I left home." Diamond told them, telling them a huge part of her. After she had said these things, she took out a large pear-shaped diamond. All around it were different types of gemstones, precious and semi- precious. In the center, there was a heart-shaped piece of amber. 


	2. Chapter Two

Joe Shimamura woke up from what had to be the strangest dream ever.  
  
In his dream, he had been a female, named Joanna. And, god, he  
remember that dream's crucial point: when a young, brown-haired, blue-  
eyed girl came running up to him/her. All she said was "They will come  
soon. Don't be afraid!" Then she had run off, leaving the stunned  
Joe/Joanna to contemplate this.  
  
It's over now, he thought.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
In other cases, Francoise was still asleep. That same girl came  
running over to her, but with an arm full of flowers. Francoise smiled  
at the young girl running. But when the girl came near, she turned  
into a much older girl, of about seventeen. She told Francoise about  
Black Ghost, even though Francoise already knew. The girl threw in at  
the end about a girl who had made cyborgs, but wasn't a member of  
Black Ghost. This flipped Francoise out so much, she awoke with a  
start.  
  
"But Joe, how is that possible?"  
  
"I have no clue, doc. That's all she told me."  
  
Francoise caught a conversation in the making. Apparently, Joe had  
been having a dream along the same lines as hers. He had been worried  
about it, so he talked to Gilmore about it. Sounded right, she  
thought.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Diamond had begun her work on Emerald.  
  
At last, she thought. I'm going at it again. Since it would be stupid  
to make a duplicate of herself, she went straight to May.  
  
With hardly any sleep, Garnet had said. You need to sleep, Diamond, or  
you're going to make yourself sick. Rest for another day, and then get  
back to work. Garnet's attempts had failed; Diamond just went back to  
work. No comments on Diamond's side, just back to working.  
  
The main build of Emerald was about the same age as Amethyst and  
Garnet were, around 13-14 years old. It hadn't been hard. Yugi had  
already made them for her, the computer genius.  
  
Chang was stressed. He had a whole bunch of ideas for what to make as  
this morning's breakfast, but couldn't choose. After about twenty  
minutes of fighting with himself, Joe and Gilmore walked into the  
room. Chang seized the opportunity to ask someone about what to make.  
"Good morning, 009. What would you like for breakfast this morning?"  
Chang asked Joe, feeling extremely awkward. He usually didn't ask  
questions like this.  
  
"Do you mind making pancakes?" Joe asked Chang. Besides, he was sick  
of Chinese food anyway.  
  
"Sure, why not?" Chang said, then scuttled off to get to work.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Diamond had gotten only to the "brain" of Emerald and it was midnight.  
Garnet had been right, and Diamond had begun to think the world was  
ending. Her forehead felt warm, but she assured herself that it was  
from stress, not a fever. But when she got out the thermometer, she  
had a temperature of one hundred and one.  
  
"Time for bed, Diamond." A voice called her from the door. It was  
Amethyst, Garnet standing next to her. "Garnet told you, and she was  
right. You're sick. Go upstairs and get to sleep. We promise to work  
on Emerald. Anyway, you programmed us to know how to do this."  
  
"Thanks...but I can't stop. If you do work, could you get Emerald and  
Pearl done.." Diamond didn't get to finish.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"Pancakes? Seriously?" Jet shouted after Joe, literally flying out of  
bed. "I haven't had those in ages!" he told Joe merrily. "I was  
getting sick of eating Chinese shit day after day, anyway."  
  
"Why do you think I put in the request?" Joe wanted to know, sounding  
very amused. He walked out of Jet's room right before Jet started to  
whoop with joy.  
  
Joe went into Francoise's room next. "Uhhh....Francoise? Are you awake?"  
Joe asked, cautiously entering the female's room.  
  
"Good morning, Joe. I heard you talking with Dr. Gilmore this morning.  
What happened?" Francoise wanted to know; she'd been wondering ever  
since that morning.  
  
"You heard me?"  
  
"Yes, and from what I can gather, we had almost the same dream."  
Francoise told him.  
  
"Well, I dreamed I was a girl" Joe said earnestly. Francoise giggled.  
"I saw this little girl. She told me that they were coming soon and  
not to be afraid of them. That's all, I swear." Joe added, with a  
smile. Francoise gave a small gasp.  
  
"That's exactly what happened in my dream. Except that when the girl  
came closer to me, she was about seventeen. She told me that there was  
a person out there who made cyborgs."  
  
"So? They probably work for Black Ghost." Joe retorted. That was  
always the case.  
  
"No, Joe. They don't work for Black Ghost. They operate by  
themselves."  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Garnet gingerly laid Diamond in her bed. Amethyst covered her with her  
blanket and pried the large diamond from her creator's hand. Looking  
at it, Amethyst gathered that it had to be worth a couple billion  
dollars, just by the size of it.  
  
"Is she ok?" a young, nervous voice asked from the doorway. It turned  
out that it belonged to Aquamarine.  
  
"She's fine. All she did was deprive her body of sleep for too long, that's all. No need to worry. Do you want to help create Emerald and possibly Pearl?" Garnet asked Aquamarine.  
  
"I'd love to! Oh, but wait....shouldn't someone take care of Diamond? Maybe I can do it?" Aquamarine stated. She had a good point.  
  
"Touché, Aqua. You stay up here with Diamond and we'll work on Emerald. See ya later!" Garnet said. The she and Amethyst left to go back to Diamond laboratory to work on Emerald.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
It didn't take long for Great Britain to smell breakfast. He hadn't smelled pancakes since Jet had tried to cook, but desperately failed. It was also Jet's cries of joy that woke him up. Then, he chose his revenge: turning into a pin at the table and seating himself where Jet sat. Then, when Jet sat down, he'd be screaming in pain, not in joy.  
  
"007? Are you coming to breakfast?" a concerned 003 was at his door.  
  
"Coming, 003. Did 002 get lessons in cooking, or did 006 make pancakes?" G.B asked Francoise.  
  
"Come and see for yourself." She told him, grinning slightly.  
  
At the table, Jet was shoveling in as many pancakes as he possibly could per minute. Chang had to run back into the kitchen four times before Jet slowed down. The others at the table hadn't even gone near the food; for fear they might be devoured in the process of Jet's eating frenzy. All they did was stare.  
  
When Britain came into the dining room, Jet had just began to let other people have a stab at the pancakes. Damn, Britain thought. There goes my perfect revenge plan.  
  
"Good morning, 007." G. Junior said from his place at the table. Did I do something odd, Britain wondered. He wasn't used to getting addressed by 003 and 005. It was a rare honor. Next thing you knew, Chang would offer to take his shift at the controls for awhile. That'd be a laugh, the actor thought, imagining 006 at the controls.  
  
Britain seated himself in between 009 and 008. It was unusually loud this morning, but it was probably because of the change in the menu. But it wasn't that way, Albert thought. He could hear Joe, Francoise and Gilmore talking about dreams.  
  
"So, what about little girls with flowers in their arms?" Jet remarked, enthrathed by what they were saying. Suddenly, all other noises ceased to exist. Everyone wanted to hear about Joe and Francoise's dreams. Even Chang poked his head out of the kitchen to hear what it was all about.  
  
"Well, if you insist on knowing, 002, 009 and 003 had almost the same dream last night. They believe that they were being transmitted by Black Ghost." Dr. Gilmore told Jet. Albert and Britain listened even more intently, hearing Black Ghost mentioned.  
  
"Last night, I dreamed that a small girl told me that they were coming soon and not to be afraid. 003 dreamed that that same girl came to her, but she was seventeen. She told 003 about Black Ghost. And here's the real message that she gave 003: someone's out there making cyborgs." Joe said.  
  
Jet sprayed his orange juice all over when he heard this. "Tell me, 009. Black Ghost made us into cyborgs, right? BLACK GHOST makes cyborgs."  
  
"No, 002. The girl said it wasn't Black Ghost. She said that it was someone else." Francoise said for the second time that morning.  
  
"Well then 003, did she say who it was?" Albert asked Francoise. All Francoise did was shake her head no.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
In Aquamarine's time zone, it was well past two in the morning. Everyone but Garnet and Amethyst had fallen asleep already, including Aquamarine. This didn't mean she couldn't dream, though.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"Hmmm...what's this?" Aquamarine was asking no one in particular. "Hello? Is anyone here?"  
  
"Hello, dear. My name is Black Ghost. It is a pleasure to meet you." Black Ghost responded to Aquamarine.  
  
Of course, Aquamarine had no idea who this was. She thought he was a friend, she thought he wasn't real at all. This was a dream, anyway.  
  
"It's nice to meet you, Black Ghost. My name's Aquamarine."  
  
"Aquamarine? Well, Aquamarine, you can help me. When you wake up, search 'Black Ghost' on the internet. I will give you an access code to get in. Once you are in, search for the zero-zero cyborgs. Destroy them, for they are the evilest works we ever created. They rebelled against their creators, and are now wrecking havoc on our world. Help us get rid of them. Farewell, Aquamarine. I hope to meet you again someday." Black Ghost said to Aquamarine. Then he was gone.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
At that moment, Francoise Arnoul sensed that something had gone terribly wrong. 


	3. Chapter Three

Mika: We haven't talked in a while, have we?  
  
Garnet: you could say that, in a sense  
  
Mika: what do you mean?  
  
Garnet: you've never even spoken to them, silly.  
  
Mika: well, anyway, I don't own anything but Diamond and the other gem girls.  
  
Garnet: pointless.  
  
Mika: stop talking like Sapphire will or I swear you'll have an early death.  
  
Garnet: fine. See you later, mangoes.  
  
~@~@~@~@~  
  
"Let's see... Black Ghost. Access code 55306." Aquamarine thought aloud. "I'm in!"  
  
"What are you in?" a purple-haired girl asked from the doorway.  
  
"A website. Nothing bad, I swear." Aquamarine told Amethyst.  
  
"Fine. How's Diamond doing?"  
  
Aquamarine nearly self-destructed. She had totally forgotten. "She's doing ok. I think it's sleep she needs."  
  
"Ok. See you around noon." Amethyst said, then left.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"003? 003, are you ok?" Dr. Gilmore asked nervously, for the moment that Aquamarine had woken up; Francoise had passed out.  
  
"Yes, Dr. Gilmore. I'm fine. Sorry to scare you." Francoise apologized. Gilmore lost a lot of his tenseness when Francoise said this.  
  
"What happened Fran...I mean, 003?" Joe asked Francoise, blushing as he had almost mentioned 003's name.  
  
"I'm not sure. From what I understand, it looked like you had a bad vision, right, 003?" Albert asked her.  
  
"That sounds like it." Francoise admitted.  
  
"Was it Black Ghost?" Joe asked, picking up Gilmore's nervousness.  
  
Very slowly, Francoise nodded her head.  
  
~!~!~@  
  
'The zero-zero rebel cyborgs are currently being tracked in a multi-use submarine called the Dolphin. If this vessel is seen, contact the below named.'  
  
That's what it said, and that was the tail end. Freaky, Aquamarine thought. Just plain freaky.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Amethyst and Garnet had made good progress on Emerald. According to what Diamond had said on her computer notes, Emerald was supposed to have power over illness. She could stop it, give it, cure it, even play with it if that was what she felt like. Well, she better not give me a virus, Amethyst thought.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Aquamarine had found the Dolphin. She was going to set out and find these cyborgs and destroy them.  
  
"Err, Aquamarine?" Diamond's voice came like a very small child's voice from the bed. "What're you doin'? Going somewhere?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Where to?"  
  
"To destroy the greatest evil robots in the world."  
  
"Have fun. Bring me a souvenir" Diamond said, then drifted back into slumber.  
  
Aquamarine laughed out loud, then went to tell her sisters.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"To find rebels, eh?" Garnet said, a slight tone of sarcasm in her voice.  
  
"That's what I said!" Aquamarine pouted.  
  
"Go ahead. Call us when you need help, shrimp." Garnet replied, and this time, there was no doubt of amusement in her voice.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"Commander, sir?" an extremely frightened voice asked from a door.  
  
"What, Cyrea. It had better be good news, not like the shit you fed me last time." Black Ghost barked, evidently in a bad mood.  
  
"I was just going to say that Aquamarine has left to destroy the zero-zero cyborgs."  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"For the last time, 007, what is it?" Jet demanded, sounding highly ticked off.  
  
"There's something on the radar that wasn't there before. Best bet, it's Black Ghost, taking another hit at it." Britain said right back at Jet.  
  
"Well, if it's Black Ghost made, then it's our job to destroy it." said Albert, pleased to finally be of use. It wasn't often that a walking arsenal got to do what he was cut out for. "Let's suit up to go and meet it."  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Truth be told, Aquamarine was having a blast. The only two things on her mind were how to battle, and that song: Eyes Like Yours. Three things, maybe. It was pretty underwater. That's how, she had decided, to reach the Dolphin.  
  
Aquamarine had never fought before. She had no clue if she had any weapons, and if she did, how to use them. All that dumb computer had said was "amazing underwater abilities". Did that only mean underwater, or on land, too?  
  
So leaving how to fight until she absolutely had to, she let the music pour through her head.  
  
(Oh, you know I have seen, a sky without sun, a man with no nation. Saints, captive in chains, a song with no name for lack of imagination)  
  
Aquamarine began to sing along with it.  
  
"And I have seen, darker than ebony...and now it seems, that I, without your eyes could ever be."  
  
That's all she got to sing before she came face-to-face with the Dolphin.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"Look's like we've got company." Jet said airily. "Most likely Black Ghost's newest weapon. They ran out of test subjects, so we're being used. Ok!"  
  
"Hello?" a voice called from the door. Aquamarine was at the door, although no one inside knew who it was.  
  
"Let's go out the back hatch and meet it there. Then Gilmore, 003 and 001 won't be hurt in the process." Albert suggested. He was usually right, so they went along with his plan.  
  
"Stupid Black Ghost." Aquamarine hissed, kicking the Dolphin. As she did, a thin beam of light passed by her head.  
  
"Nice shot, ace." A rude voice said.  
  
Aquamarine came out from her "hiding" place. "So this is what I'm up against."  
  
Then all hell broke loose.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"Done!" Amethyst exclaimed triumphantly. She and Garnet had finished Emerald. After lunch, they were going to start work on Pearl.  
  
"KONICHIWA!!!!! I'm Emerald!" Emerald shouted, startling Amethyst and Garnet.  
  
"Hello, Emerald. Do you want to go see how Diamond's doing?" Garnet asked, personally wondering how their creator was doing.  
  
"Gladly." Emerald said happily.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
When Emerald got to Diamond's room, she had figured out what to do. Stop the virus dead in its tracks. Then, send it off to someone else. Who, she didn't know.  
  
But she had successfully done it, that was all that mattered. Diamond sat up, looking refreshed.  
  
"So I guess I wasn't dreaming about Aquamarine leaving, was I?" Diamond told no one in particular.  
  
"That's what they said."  
  
"Well, I think I figured something out. I believe I can call a cyborg out of a gemstone itself. Hopefully then, this won't happen again!" ~@~@~@~  
  
It seemed as if Aquamarine had gone into auto mode. Her eyes had begun to glow, and she was, as it seemed, paralyzed. All around her, a wall of water was coming. In this odd mode, it looked as if she wasn't afraid.  
  
And she wasn't. This was what the computer meant by "amazing underwater abilities", huh? She felt ready to redefine that phrase.  
  
"Oh, crap, oh crap, oh crap." Joe cursed. It wasn't like him to curse, but water wasn't his favorite thing in the world. He randomly shot, trying to hit the thing causing the tidal wave.  
  
"Your bullets are useless. Water protects me, and at no cost. Beat me if you can!" it [it being Aquamarine] yelled. To the other cyborgs, it sounded like a young girl's voice. That was the way Aquamarine had been programmed.  
  
We'll see if your shield can't be penetrated, Pyunma thought. Albert was thinking the same thing while unhinging his lower knee.  
  
[008, don't try to penetrate that wall. It will knock you unconscious for several hours.] Ivan' s mental voice told Pyunma. [004, I think you should try to get through with one of your missiles. I'll tell 009 to accelerate and try to break through at the same time you shoot. Get that, 009?]  
  
[Loud and clear.] Joe thought, even though it was like speaking to Ivan.  
  
[On my count... 3,2,1 go.] Ivan said. Albert fired and Joe accelerated.  
  
Aquamarine clenched her fists. This stank. But as she tightened her fists, the wall became greater. When she let her fists go, scared to see what would happen if she held them any longer, the wave crashed, rocking the Dolphin.  
  
"God damnit!" Joe swore again. Even accelerating through water wasn't a pleasant experience. But since the tidal wave had been released, there wasn't a shield anymore. Joe froze in his tracks. The whole cause of this was a young girl.  
  
[009, is everything ok?] Ivan asked, for fear that something had happened.  
  
[Fine. Only the trouble was a girl. An eleven year-old girl.]  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Diamond sat in the swivel chair and closed her eyes. Amethyst placed a pearl on the table in front of her. The pearl was lifted a clear two feet off the table and began to rotate. As it did, the other three in the room began to see features form. Pearl had cream-colored hair, and was a little tall. Then, the pearl stopped rotating. It placed itself at what was now the heart of Pearl.  
  
"To you, I give the power of living creatures. You are able to communicate with anything alive." Diamond said, eyes still shut. Pearl fell limply onto the table. Diamond's new method had worked.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Unfortunately, with Joe meeting Aquamarine, Albert's missile hadn't been stopped. All the other cyborgs saw the shield had been lowered, so they fired. Aquamarine saw the bullets. She closed her fists and another shield came up. Joe was looking at her, awestruck. If Black Ghost had made her, she would have already tried to destroy him. But she hadn't.  
  
She wasn't Black Ghost made. [001! Can you tell the others to stop! This cyborg isn't made by Black Ghost!]  
  
[All of you, stop firing! 009 says that this cyborg isn't Black Ghost's handiwork!] Ivan mentally shouted, or the equivalent of it. Everyone stopped. Albert's missile hit the water shield, but didn't break through. Aquamarine, too, had heard what Ivan said.  
  
[So, you guys are the rebel zero-zero cyborgs?] Aquamarine mentally asked.  
  
[YOU CAN TALK TO US!!??] Jet thought, and sent it loud and clear to everyone. They needed to cover their ears, even though that didn't help.  
  
[It seems she can, 002. What's your name?] Ivan asked.  
  
[I'm Aquamarine.]  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
The same method was repeated for Ruby. Ruby had the power to see the future and past. It hardly took any of Diamond's energy. At this rate, she could finish the whole year, plus a few more. Garnet's cell phone began to ring.  
  
"Hello, you've got Garnet. Talk to me." Garnet snapped into the phone.  
  
"Hi Garnet. I've found the zero-zero cyborgs. You all need to come here. I believe this thing called Black Ghost is onto us. Bring Diamond. I don't think we're safe anymore." Aquamarine said to Garnet.  
  
"I'll be over as soon as Ruby wakes up, which should be soon. Expect us in an hour or so." Garnet told Aquamarine. Diamond motioned to had her the phone.  
  
"Aquamarine? I'll track you. Are they holding you captive?" Diamond asked into the phone.  
  
"Not a chance. See ya!" with that, Aquamarine hung up.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"So, the person who created you is named Diamond, right?" Gilmore asked Aquamarine. She nodded.  
  
"And she's made others?"  
  
Again Aquamarine nodded. After Ivan had told them to lay off, Joe had asked who she really was, if she had a number. Aquamarine had no clue what he was talking about. She had told him that she was named for the birthstone of March.  
  
This question-and-answer thing had been going on for awhile now. After about forty minutes of it, there was a knock on the Dolphin's central door. "Anyone home?" a female's voice asked. Britain stood up and got the door.  
  
"Hi, I'm Diamond. This is Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and Ruby." Diamond said.  
  
Aquamarine was so happy to see them, she nearly passed out.  
  
~@~@~@~@~  
  
Mika: Yay! I did it! Chapter three's done!  
  
Soraoathkeeper: YAY!  
  
Both: *dance around like idiots*  
  
Mika: since next Monday is Soraoathkeeper's birthday, let's have an early party!  
  
Sora: ^_________________^  
  
009: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  
  
Mika: where'd you come from?  
  
009: around.  
  
Soraoathkeeper: can we get going?  
  
Mika and 009: YES!  
  
Black Ghost: I think I'm in the wrong story.  
  
Soraoathkeeper: right you are! *volcano of soda erupts*  
  
Mika: Read and review! See you after I have an awesome party in chapter four! 


	4. Chapter Four

Soraoathkeeper: *is high off soda*  
  
Mika: That was THE most awesome party ever!  
  
009: OH YEAH!  
  
Mika: ..!!! O_o  
  
Opal: Mika doesn't own anything but the gem girls and Diamond.  
  
009: Who're you?  
  
Opal: I'll see you later in the story.  
  
Sora: I have to go *hic* but thanks for the awesome party!  
  
Mika and 009: any time!  
  
Mika: You're welcome back!  
  
~@~@~@~@~  
  
Diamond was going through twenty million questions with Gilmore. She clung to her diamond pendant. Even when Joe asked to see it, she wouldn't give it to him. It contained her, pretty much.  
  
"So you aren't a cyborg?" Gilmore asked. He was tired of this.  
  
"No. I'm human, unless you feel like making me a cyborg." Diamond told him. The rebels looked at her in disgust. Aquamarine was just beginning to see who Black Ghost was.  
  
"Can you possibly demonstrate how you make cyborgs?" Gilmore wondered.  
  
"Sure." Diamond said, pulling the peridot out of the large diamond pendant. She placed it on the table in front of her and started to form the latest in her series.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"Perfect." Black Ghost spat. "Cyrea, I thought you told me that she was off to destroy them, not make allies with them."  
  
"I did, sir. She was going to destroy them. I don't know what happened." Cyrea told Black Ghost.  
  
"Well, no matter. Let's just get her creator in here and see how well she takes it. In no time, she'll think that the rebels did it. After that, it's just a matter of how long." Black Ghost had begun a plan. Get Diamond and turn her into a cyborg.  
  
That was all that she needed.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"To you, I grant the power of invisibility and speed." Diamond said, eyes shut. The newly formed Peridot dropped onto the table, and the original gemstone returned to Diamond. "That's how." Gilmore looked like he'd been hit in the back of the head with a wet fish.  
  
"Did that just really happen?" Jet rudely said, breaking the silence.  
  
"Want another demo?"  
  
"Sure as hell! I want to see that this isn't rigged." Jet yelled.  
  
Diamond pulled the sapphire out of her pendant. This guy was seriously ticking her off. Placing the sapphire on the table and closing her eyes, it lifted five feet up and began to whirl incredibly fast.  
  
"To you, I grant psychic powers. You are capable of everything but foretelling the future." Diamond said. Sapphire didn't even need to wake up. As soon as Diamond got the sapphire back, Sapphire sat up.  
  
She had indigo hair and indigo eyes. Jet sat there, looking at her.  
  
"What." Sapphire snapped, noticing Jet. "I'm not some circus freak." Then, Sapphire lifted Jet a clean three feet out of his chair into the air.  
  
"Put me down NOW, child." Jet said furiously. "Or do you not understand the meaning of now?"  
  
"DO NOT CALL ME CHILD!" Sapphire shouted, but her mouth didn't move.  
  
She was projecting her thoughts aloud.  
  
Sapphire lifted Jet up another five feet, then dropped him. "Ticking me off is NOT a good idea, 002. Leave me alone unless you have a GOOD reason to disrupt me. Not a reason like you need help moving things." Sapphire said, using her voice. "That goes for anyone else who decides to stare avidly at me."  
  
"Kobanwa...." A sleepy voice said. "I'm Peridot."  
  
"Sorry Peridot!" Emerald said, suddenly remembering. Emerald jumped up and helped Peridot to sit up.  
  
"Sapphire? Uh, what are you doing?" Peridot asked Sapphire, who looked like she was having a staring contest with Ivan.  
  
[We aren't doing anything.] Ivan told everyone.  
  
[001 is much nicer than 002. I believe 001 and I will get along fine.] Sapphire said, grinning ever so slightly.  
  
"Can we go to bed now?" Aquamarine asked, sounding exhausted. "I didn't know how much fighting took out of you."  
  
"I agree," said Garnet. "Let's go to bed."  
  
"But where will all of you sleep?" Francoise asked. "We don't have enough rooms."  
  
"I believe I can take care of that, for the time being." Sapphire told Francoise. "I'll see if I can call some sleeping bags and pillows. From there, we can find some place to sleep."  
  
"But doesn't someone have to pilot this thing?" Amethyst asked. "It's a sub, right?"  
  
"I'll take care of it." Sapphire answered again.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"Good evening, Takegara. You understand your mission, I trust?" Black Ghost inquired. He had had enough of that fool of fools Cyrea.  
  
"Yes, sir. Find Diamond and bring her back her. I should not attempt to destroy the others unless absolutely necessary." Takegara said.  
  
"Very good. I'll see you in about two hours."  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Sapphire had gotten about eight sleeping bags, which was the perfect amount. Jet had agreed to wake up at three in the morning to take control. But, as Amethyst saw, he just wanted to clear things up with Sapphire. He liked her.  
  
But what didn't show up on the radar was a man following them. To be specific, Takegara. He didn't want to be executed.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Roughly, it was one in the morning. Takegara had successfully broken into the Dolphin. Now all he had to do was find Diamond.  
  
"Now, if I was a diamond, where would I be?" Takegara whispered. "Found you." He whispered triumphantly. He placed her into a bubble-like container and hauled her out of the ship.  
  
Success. This meant a promotion, Takegara thought merrily.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"Very good, Takegara. And within the time limit, too." Black Ghost said, surveying Diamond. It was a good thing Takegara hadn't taken her pillow. That was where she was storing the diamond pendant for the night.  
  
"Thank you, sir." Takegara said proudly. He removed Diamond from the bubble.  
  
"Bring her to the lab."  
  
"Right away." Takegara replied, still in a good mood.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"WHERE'S DIAMOND!?" Sapphire bellowed. It was three in the morning. She and Jet had just swapped positions. He had even offered to let Sapphire sleep in his room. Sapphire had turned down the offer.  
  
"How am I supposed to know?" a weary Pyunma asked. Waking up early had gone past him long ago.  
  
Very slowly, everyone gathered in the control room. Sapphire was practically blowing flames at Jet. "He did it." Sapphire told everyone.  
  
"Sapphire, calm down." Ruby said, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "Let's look for her. I'll go with Garnet, Amethyst, 007 and Aquamarine. 002, 003, 004, 005 and 006 can make a group. You, Peridot, Pearl, 008 and 009 are the other group. Got it everyone?"  
  
They nodded. Ruby smiled. "Let's split up!" she said.  
  
"So you're 009. It is a pleasure to meet you." Sapphire told Joe, extending a hand. Joe nervously shook it. Sapphire grinned. "You're 008." She said, facing Pyunma.  
  
"It's nice to meet your aquantince." Pyunma said, shaking Sapphire's hand. Peridot looked. She wasn't in a bad mood, but she was sleepy. Like Pyunma, she did not like waking up before it was absolutely required.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
After an hour of searching, no one found anything but Francoise. She had been looking to see if Diamond had left a clue to where she had gone. What she found was Diamond's pendant. Sapphire still thought that Jet did it; she had checked his room five times before admitting that he hadn't done it.  
  
"So, where could she have gone?" Peridot asked. "We don't know when and why she left. So how do we find her?"  
  
[I'll look with Ruby.] Sapphire thought, but let everyone hear. [We can hook up and see the past, present and future. Ruby can, at least. But with both of us, I bet everyone can see it and we can track her down.]  
  
"Ok, sounds good to me," Albert said.  
  
Ruby and Sapphire sat down on a couch next to each other. They joined hands, and as they did, a ruby and a sapphire light up inside their bodies.  
  
"I see a guy...he's climbing in. He's looking around, and sees Diamond. He picks her up, then puts her in this bubble thing. Then he gets back out." Ruby said, frightened by what she was witnessing. Of course, she wasn't the only one. The entire group in the living room, including Gilmore and Ivan, were watching.  
  
"He gets up onto a small island, then goes into a building." Sapphire said, but decided not to talk anymore. It was becoming evident what had happened: Black Ghost had kidnapped Diamond.  
  
"I think we're looking into the future.." Sapphire said, but Ruby broke loose. This was going too far, she thought. It really was happening: Diamond was being made into a cyborg. Ruby wanted to cry. She wasn't the only one. All of the gem girls wanted to cry, excluding Sapphire. She seemed to be fighting against herself. Ivan could tell because objects were beginning to float around the room.  
  
"I'm stuck. Why would they want Diamond?" Pearl asked, speaking up at last. "I mean, she has magic and all, but I don't know what other than that."  
  
[Black Ghost wanted her to fool you guys into thinking that we did it,] said Ivan [They wanted you to destroy us. 009 and 003, do you remember those dreams you had? I believe that the dreams were talking about these girls.]  
  
"That isn't possible, 001." Chang said. "If their dreams had meant something, Dr. Gilmore would have figured it out by now."  
  
"Now would be a good time to tell about my dream, I guess. In my dream, I met Black Ghost. He told me you guys were awful people." Aquamarine said shakily.  
  
"The only reason they don't like us is because we rebelled. If we hadn't, they'd have thought differently." Albert said.  
  
"Well, he told me that you guys were wrecking havoc. I decided to get rid of you myself. That's how I wound up here." Aquamarine told him, finishing up her previous statement.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"Where on earth am I?" Diamond asked herself. "I've never been here before." She was in an all-white room, lying on an operating table. There were windows high up on the walls, but not looking outside. They showed corridors of endless lengths.  
  
"Time to find a way out." Diamond stated. She rolled the sleeves up on her red shirt.  
  
RED SHIRT!!?? She thought, panic-stricken. I was wearing pajamas, and they certainly weren't red. Now isn't the time, she scolded herself. Now' s the time to get out.  
  
"Not so fast, 0017. We haven't even met yet." A man in a black cape and skull mask said. "My name is Black Ghost. Won't you sit down?"  
  
Diamond nearly tore her hair out. Here was Black Ghost, and she could kill him. "I summon.."  
  
"Now, now, it isn't time to do that. I want to see how you fare alone for a while. You'll be taking a little trip in a while. It is my personal hope that you have a good time, 0017." Black Ghost told Diamond smoothly.  
  
"What? Vacation?" Diamond inquired. Sleep was staring to nag at her.  
  
"Have a nice time on my personal island." Was the last thing Diamond heard before unconscious claimed her.  
  
~@~@~@~@~  
  
Mika: I'm so sorry for the short update!!! *bashes head against her keyboard*  
  
Soraoathkeeper: *makes it rain candy*  
  
Mika: yay! Again I apologize for the short update, but I have a serious case of writer's block. I read Lain to see if I could get any ideas from it *grabs candy and put it in a bag*  
  
Sora, 009 and 007: she made us read it too!  
  
Mika: I did not.  
  
Sora: well, I read it because she wouldn't shut up about it.  
  
Mika: ^-^;;;;;;;;;; ....read and review! See you after my block clears in chapter five!  
  
Sora, 009, 007: about us?  
  
Mika: That includes you, Sora...  
  
Sora: oh! *grabs a huge bag of candy and runs away with Mika*  
  
009 and 007: we'll see you later... 


	5. Chapter Five

Mika: my writer's block is gone! *hugs 009*  
  
Sora: yay!  
  
Sapphire: [Mika doesn't own shit.]  
  
Mika: Take that back!  
  
009: Mika doesn't own Cyborg 009, but she does own the gem girls. Happy?  
  
Mika: *kisses 009*  
  
009: ^_____^  
  
Sora: *feels lonely*  
  
Mika: fear not Sora! I'll find...someone for you!  
  
Sora ^___^  
  
~@~@~@~@~  
  
Takegara was almost finished tying Diamond to a tree. They were on a small, uncharted island south of Greece. Black Ghost had said to bound and gag her so she could scream or run. He had also instructed to tie her to the closest tree to where the tide broke.  
  
"Done. Have a nice time, 0017. Hope you cleared your schedule for the next couple of weeks. No one's going to find you. Soon, anyhow." Takegara said, but Diamond couldn't hear. She was still unconscious. The only hint to where she was was the billowing yellow cape that flew out behind her.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"Uughh..." Pearl said wearily. Hardly anyone had gotten much sleep last night. Even Sapphire was starting to look tired. "Sapphire, can't we at least have breakfast? Then maybe we can get somewhere."  
  
"Like where?" Peridot asked. "Y'know, I can pilot this thing for awhile. I'll look on the radar and see if she's in range. Pearl, you can see if you can talk to her?"  
  
"I'll try, but what if, I mean, they made really her into a cyborg? Then I couldn't track her." Pearl mentioned, feeling hopeless.  
  
"We still have her pendant, right?" Amethyst said, a small jolt of hope flicking on inside her. "Maybe Sapphire or Pearl can track her using that."  
  
[I AM NOT A TRACKING DEVICE.] Sapphire thought with anger behind it.  
  
[You are able to mentally speak to us, right?] Ivan asked Aquamarine.  
  
"Yeah, we can." Aquamarine told him, catching his drift.  
  
[Sapphire and I could try talking to her mentally. It would most likely work.] Ivan said.  
  
"I see where you're headed, 001. I'll try looking for her myself, though. I can go at a speed up to mach three." Peridot told Ivan.  
  
"Why don't I look with you?" Joe asked. "I can accelerate also."  
  
"Don't leave me out of the fun, 009. I'll search from the skies." Jet said, standing up from the chair he was sitting on.  
  
"All of you, wait. Peridot, you and 009 go and look with Jet. Nobody else should leave until they return." Francoise said.  
  
"Sounds good, 003." Peridot told Francoise happily.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"Can I help you make breakfast?" Garnet asked Chang. He seemed preoccupied, but she was determined to help. "Pretty pretty please?"  
  
"Sure, why not? With all of you around, I'll need help." Chang said to Garnet, half-aware of what he had just said. Garnet went around to all the different cupboards to retrieve the things needed for breakfast. Then she saw the name of what they were making for breakfast.  
  
"We're having chow mein for breakfast?" Garnet questioned.  
  
"Better get used to it," Jet told Garnet. "He likes to cook food from his country. If he makes pancakes, it must be because of a celebration." He added with gusto.  
  
"We better get going, 002. No one else can leave until we get back." Peridot said, walking by.  
  
"I'll try to save something for you guys to eat." Garnet called after them.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"Well, shouldn't we break up, or whatever?" Peridot asked. Like Aquamarine, she had never been in combat before.  
  
"Garnet said you were up here." Emerald said, climbing out of the Dolphin. "Garnet said to tell you to be back by noon. Any later, and she's just going to break through the tide with Pearl."  
  
"Got it, Emerald. Thanks for the heads-up." Joe told her.  
  
"See ya!" Emerald shouted, then disappeared back inside the Dolphin.  
  
"Back to what you were saying earlier, Peridot, we should split up. I'll go east and you go west. 002, you take the skies." Joe said.  
  
"Got it." Peridot and Jet said in unison. With that, they broke apart into different directions.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
About a half an hour after they left, Sapphire climbed out onto the top of the Dolphin. True, it was morning at the time. But as she looked at the sky, she saw it looked more like dusk. The highest point was deep, deep indigo. As she followed it lower, it became bluer. It faded from indigo into blue*. Sapphire hoped that Diamond was looking at the sky also, at the same time.  
  
She drew her knees close to her body and hugged them. Knowing she was only a day old and had the problems of a true seventeen-year-old didn't bring any comfort. More than any ordinary person, really. That damned 002 didn't help things either. Sapphire checked to make sure nobody was looking before she started to cry.  
  
It was at this time she decided that those emotions she had for 002 were only too real. Even being the nasty jerk he was, he had a sensitive side. Or so Amethyst said.  
  
Her life seemed too real. Life came crashing in on Sapphire, even being a day old. Sapphire's tears only began to pour harder.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"So, Garnet, can you cook and not blow a circuit?" Britain asked, amused by Chang's aura of flames. "Not mentioning specific names on the topic, though." He added quickly, for Chang now held up a frying pan. Britain was getting the impression of being smacked in the face with it.  
  
"I believe I can. Do you mind if I short-circuit a few in the process, though?" Garnet asked. "Not saying that I will, but if you really want me to, I'll break through all the walls in this joint."  
  
"Are you crazy, Garnet?" Chang questioned loudly.  
  
"If I was crazy, then Diamond would have deactivated me by now. But I'm dead serious." Garnet told them with a straight face.  
  
"Do all of you have a different power? Because I remember that Aquamarine girl, she wasn't an easy on to beat. I think she had the power of water, or something like that." Britain asked Garnet.  
  
"Yes, we all have a different power. If I am recalling correctly, Amethyst can see if you're lying or not, or what your personality is. Aquamarine, like you said, has the power of water. Emerald can cure, stop or give any illness. Pearl can communicate with any living thing. Ruby can see the past and future. Peridot has the ability of speed and invisibility. Sapphire is psychic." Garnet said. The whole time, her face stayed normal.  
  
"You really aren't lying, are you?" Chang asked her. Garnet nodded. "So, then, if you know all your powers already, why do you need Diamond?"  
  
"Because she's the only one who knows how we can use them. She also knows everything about us there is to know. Diamond is also one of us, if you think about it." Garnet said to him.  
  
"Garnet! Garnet! Sapphire and Ruby think they've found something! 009, 002 and Peridot are back also, in case you wanted to know." Emerald called, racing into the kitchen.  
  
"So soon?" Garnet asked, running to where the voice was calling. Chang and Britain weren't very far behind her.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"So you're telling me that Diamond is on some island?" Sapphire asked. She hid all evidence that she had been crying earlier. She had even changed her clothes into an all-black outfit. This included a long-sleeved black shirt, a black skirt, black knee-high boots, and to add the final touches, safety pins on the end of the sleeves and on the end of the skirt.  
  
"That's what I said, right? Unless I need to get a hearing aid, that is." Jet snapped back at her. "Do you have something against me?"  
  
Sapphire very briefly contacted her feelings. Something told her not to do it so soon. Oh well, she thought. I won't get another chance like this. Even if it's in front of all them...  
  
"Does this answer your question?" she demanded, pulling Jet close to her by his collar.  
  
No one believed what happened.  
  
Sapphire kissed Jet.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
The island was still deserted, minus Diamond. It was high tide, even in the morning. Something had gone haywire with the weather. She was underwater, but not the end of the yellow cape. It floated on top on the water, waiting for its owner to be found.  
  
~@~@~@~@~  
  
Now it is time for me to actually talk! [without all that commentary by soraoathkeeper!]  
  
Yes, I know Sapphire is a relatively new character, but hey, every story needs a twist. I picked Sapphire because in chapter four, you may have noticed that Amethyst sees that Jet is eyeing Sapphire. Anyway, you'll see what I do later. But be warned for more sharp turns!  
  
* - "It faded from indigo into blue." There's the namesake, not even how I planned it. But Fade to Blue was the name of a website I owned under a different name. I felt like calling this story "Deep Indigo", then "Deep Blue", but just decided on Fade to Blue. It sounded better for the purpose.  
  
Keep reviewing so I can keep updating!  
  
-Mika 


	6. Chapter Six

Mika: That last chapter had some spikes, huh?

002: I'll say! Stop making me fall in love with evil people!

Mika: wanna die? holds up hammer

002: no! But Sapphire IS hot...

009: coming out of nowhere can I do the disclaimer again?

Mika: why not?

009: Mika only owns the gem girls, nothing else.

Mika: yay!

Sapphire had locked herself in the control room, feeling betrayed by herself. She had even closed her mind to anyone trying to make contact that way. Personally, she had salvaged a CD from Jet's collection. She doubted he even knew that he had it.

(People everywhere, sense of expectation hangin' in the air. Gazin' at a spark, 'cross the room your eyes are, glowin' in the dark. And here we go again, we know the start, we know the end, masteress of the scene. We've done it all before and now we're back to get some more, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!)

Without knowing it, Sapphire put onto the speakers. Now the entire Dolphin was getting Voulez-vous played through it. Sapphire didn't seem to care. It was a great song and it is! She skipped over the chorus to the next verse.

(Lookin' mighty proud, see you leave your table, pushin' through the crowd. I'm really glad you came, you know the rules, you know the game, master of the seed. We've done it all before and now we're back to get some more, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!)

(Voulez-vous, aha, take it now or leave, aha, now we saw, we get, aha. Nothing promised but regret. Voulez-vous, aha, babe got nothin' to say, aha, you know what to do, aha. Fact, you still say voulez-vous. Voulez- vous, aha..)

She let the whole song play ten times before skipping to Waterloo. these songs are by Abba, an old band. That isn't all of Voulez-vous, but if I typed it, it would be a boring chapter.

Still, Diamond was unconscious. Black Ghost's tracking device indicated that she hadn't moved. But a large opal had begun to push its way to the surface. It had begun to take a very rough human-like appearance. It was low tide again, so now the yellow cape fluttered in the breeze.

All that it wanted was its owner to be found.

(YOU'RE ALL THAT IT WANTED, IS CALLING YOU ONTO THIS MUSIC, AND THE SONG THAT IT'S GOING THROUGH) Sapphire had changed CDs to the Moody Blues: Night at Red Rocks Cafe. The Voice wasn't a half-bad song, she thought. Unfortunately, letting herself get caught up in the music, she unlocked the doors.

"Sapphire? Sapphire, are you ok?" a nervous sounding Amethyst said, walking in. "002 says he's sorry..."

"I don't care." Sapphire barked. "I don't know what I was doing." She told Amethyst, hiding her tear-stained face.

"We think that we've found Diamond. Can you cry somewhere else so we can get there?" Amethyst asked kindly.

"Fine." Sapphire told her reluctantly.

On the way out, Jet had "accidentally" bumped into her. He was red all over, still feeling Sapphire's lips brush against his skin. That had been like a moment in paradise. Then he recalled what she had done when she realized what she had done. Sapphire had let him go, eyes wide with fright. She had run off, scared by what she had done.

When Sapphire saw Diamond's diamond pendant, it was glowing brightly. As they began to move forward, it got brighter. Sapphire began to watch the window to see where they were.

All she could see for miles around was water. It was dark blue, but when it caught the sunlight in the right spot, she could see about a mile down. Looking in, she saw fish swimming by. Then an odd glimmer caught her eye.

It looked like a large, blue-green wave underwater. Someone was sitting on it, staring out into oblivion. He/she was wearing a khaki cargo skirt, a magenta-and-periwinkle striped top, an indigo vest that reached to their knees, and a magenta scarf that would be about knee length if they stood up. They seemed calm, like they were above the water. guess who this is.. P Their long, dark brown braids floated out behind them. Sapphire felt a warm glow behind her. The diamond had begun to get brighter again.

But when Sapphire looked out into the water again, the person was gone.

"What are you looking at?" a kind voice asked Sapphire. It was Albert. "002 told me what happened earlier. It isn't easy, is it?"

"I don't care." Sapphire told him, her voice raspy. "He just needs someone so when he goes out somewhere he looks cool. And he needs a new person to play with."

"No he doesn't. I think he's in love with you." Albert said. He could see that this wasn't getting him very far. It was more like having a conversation with the wall.

The large opal was beginning to look ever more like a human. You could clearly see eyes, ears, fingers and hair. Diamond slept on, not knowing three separate parties were tracking her. One of cyborgs, one named Black Ghost, and the other wasn't a party.

The other person was the girl sitting on the underwater rock. Yes, that other person. She had been picking up a huge magical vibe from the island.

"I think I've found something." Sapphire announced, walking into the control room. "Watch the diamond."

Everyone looked, except 009 and 008, who were piloting the Dolphin. It shone extremely bright now, light enough to be a lightbulb with unlimited energy. Like a miniature sun. As they continued forward, it became even brighter. Then, all of a sudden, it went out.

"Why did it do that, Sapphire?" Emerald asked. She had liked the glow.

Looking out the main window, Joe saw a billowing yellow cape and an opal shaped like a human. "I think it stopped because I think we've found Diamond."

"Lemme see." Sapphire ordered. When she looked out the window, she saw Joe was dead right. There was Diamond, tied to a tree. She was wearing the same uniform as they zero-zero cyborgs. A scream escaped in Sapphire's head. This wasn't true, she was dreaming...

"Diamond!" several voices cried, each running out of the Dolphin. Sapphire could only stand there, in shock. All the others had clamored out of the ship to retrieve Diamond. But something was preventing them, like a barrier. Very slowly, Sapphire began to walk. She climbed up and out. Standing on the top, she put her psychic powers into full gear. This charged a shield up around the barrier, canceling it out.

Go through, it's safe. Sapphire told them. Someone else heard it, too. That someone else who had been generating the shield. That same someone else that had been sitting on that rock underwater.

The other gem girls untied Diamond and ungaged her. about time! She was missing for awhile there! Peridot looked at the opal, and decided to take it with them. Besides, Diamond had probably been working on it subconsciously. Peridot lifted it out of the ground, then vanished. She hadn't accelerated; she had merely become invisible.

Back inside the Dolphin, Emerald placed Diamond's body on a bed inside the infirmary. She shut her eyes and scoured Diamond's body for a virus. Since there wasn't any, she called Gilmore.

The opal Peridot had brought back in turned out to is a new cyborg. Diamond had been making it while she was unconscious without knowing it. Peridot had remained invisible, and didn't regret it. She had all ready scared the hell out of Jet, Joe and Gilmore. Opal just had to wake up, then they could see what her powers were.

The girl had decided to trail the Dolphin. She'd already taken the precaution of making herself invisible to the radar. Magic was very handy, especially in tracking. It didn't hurt to have the most powerful magic in the world, or have three different varieties either. Life was a big, night sky for Mikage.

Her father was Japanese, her mother was American. By touching Sapphire's mind, she saw 009 had a background like hers. Pulling out the manga book she had been reading earlier, she hopped on the Dolphin's top. Chobits was an awesome story.

There had been nothing crucially wrong with Diamond, only minor dehydration. Gilmore said not to worry, she'd wake up in a few days, but that was not what Ruby wanted. Since Opal had woken up about ten minutes ago, she had asked if she could speed up time. Opal said she was capable of time travel, not altering time.

Ruby looked into the past through Diamond's mind. She saw a man tying Diamond to a tree, then go away. Diamond had been stranded on the island, with no way of communication.

Pearl walked haphazardly into the room. Her face had a solid red line running down it on the left side. She, too, had been crying. Ruby's best guess was that she was crying because she couldn't help Diamond. Opal was in tow, trying to get Pearl to smile.

"Opal, why can't you..." Ruby started to say, but was stopped. Sapphire walked into the room with Diamond's pendant. It glowed furiously. Then, all of a sudden, it flew out of Sapphire's hand. It floated above Diamond, like it was waiting for a command.

The topaz came out of it. None of the gem girls present understood it. Unless, there was that itsy-bitsy possibility that Diamond was doing this without knowing it, or someone else was doing it.

"It seems entirely possible that Diamond is doing this without knowing it. I mean, that's how she created Opal." Ruby mentioned.

The topaz began to whirl, and a new cyborg began to form. Psychic words floated around, but they were indistinguishable. Topaz collapsed over Diamond's chest, and the topaz returned to the pendant. The pendant floated into Diamond's hand.

"Talk about odd." Opal stated. "That's probably one of the strangest things I'll ever see."

(Once beneath the stars, the universe was ours. Love was all we knew, and all I knew was you. I wonder if you know, I wonder if you think about me, once upon a time in your wildest dream.)

Mika had begun to listen to the Moody Blues. Even reading Chobits got boring after awhile. She turned the headphones off and tuned into what was being said on the Dolphin.

"When I get my hands on you, I swear I'll..." Mika was sure that was a movie.

"Talk about odd."

"002, can you take the controls for awhile? I need to go and find Sapphire."

It wasn't a very enlightening thing to listen to. But wait, Mika, be patient. Mika was good at this, so it wasn't a problem for her. She let the manga book go and pulled a notebook and pencil from nowhere. Setting her thoughts into writing mode, Mika let writing fill the pages.

Jet was in a slum. He wanted so badly to tell Sapphire sorry, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Sapphire was ignoring him. Whenever Jet entered a room that Sapphire was in, she'd look at him, then march away.

He had thought of giving her a gift of some kind. But then what would happen if she didn't like it? Jet decided to ask 004 about it. He probably knew what Jet could do to make it up to Sapphire.

Mika: another chapter past!

Sora: speaking of which.. today's my birthday!

Mika: sing, people, sing! I'd love to get you into the start or end of a chapter. Tell me in your review bout it and I'll see what I can do!

Sora: let's go, Mika! PARTY OVER HERE, WHOOT WHOOT!

Mika: see ya in chapter seven! Over and out! flies with Sora to a party

Plane: stops

Mika: I forgot to tell you about my friend Makoto's story. Please read it!


	7. Chapter Seven

009: WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!!

Mika: somewhere with Sora. Namely a party.

002: where's Sapphire?

Mika: up your butt and around the corner.

009, Sora, 002: ewww... OO

Mika: I don't own the zero-zero cyborgs, but I own Diamond and the gem girls.

Sora: must be leaving! Writing calls! flies away

009: on with chapter seven!

"Dinner!" Garnet yelled. She had told Chang that if he didn't let her make dinner, she'd shatter his frying pans to shards. Chang had sprinted away, clinging to his favorite frying pan.

"Wow, you CAN cook, Garnet!" Britain exclaimed, grabbing for some sushi. "Where'd you learn to make sushi?"

"Somewhere." Was all Garnet told them. Aquamarine toddled into the room, dragging a pillow.

"What?" she asked, not seeming quite awake. "I was taking a nap."

Dinner was a good meal, with Chang nervously eyeing the kitchen. Garnet seemed to catch his glance every time. "Do you want a demonstration, 006?" she demanded after about the thirtieth time he looked at the kitchen.

"Here." Garnet said in an exasperated voice. She held her plate in her left hand and lightly placed her right palm on the main part of the plate. In seconds, it had become mere dust. "I told you I wasn't joking."

Sapphire didn't go to dinner. She had already employed Aquamarine to bring her something to eat later, after dinner was over. Without Jet discovering where she was, which was in an engine room, it was easier. Once, when the Dolphin had gone to the surface, she had climbed out.

That night had been beautiful. The constellations were bright, and the moon was full. As she gazed up at the stars, she saw the Seven Sisters. It made her smile, a rare event. When she looked over more, she saw the Milky Way. Looking at it made her burst into tears, why, she didn't know.

Letting the tears out was her best hope. Then, a jet plane flew overhead. Sapphire began to bawl. She felt awful, happy, angry, and insane all at the same time. Her mixed feelings for Jet were overpowering her. That night had been ruined then.

Tonight was particularly dull. Feeling in the mood to do something besides have a mental game of hide-and-seek with Aquamarine, she walked out of the engine room. Everyone was at dinner, except Diamond and Sapphire.

Well, maybe not.

Mika felt the need to go home. She'd feel when it was time to go and help the cyborgs, but it wasn't yet. Quiet and collected, she wasn't a big hit at home. Most of the time she spent was reading, writing, swimming or clarinet playing. Not like those made a huge impact on her life.

Best be getting back now, she thought. I'll feel it when it's time to help them. You can't miss that magical vibe.

Diamond had woken up with Topaz sprawled on her chest. Guessing she had done it in her sleep, she climbed off the bed. Looking at her surroundings, she panicked.

Oh god, she thought. I'm still in Black Ghost's lab. Diamond walked to the door, and it was unlocked. She walked outside and found a corridor. It didn't seem to go on forever, but rather a short distance. Following it, she reached a living room like place. Diamond began to hear voices.

"Can you contact Sapphire by any chance, 001? I want to talk to her." A voice said. Diamond then realized that she was on the Dolphin. Walking into the kitchen, she saw the team of gem girls she'd assembled: Garnet, Amethyst, Aquamarine, Emerald, Pearl, Ruby, Peridot, and Opal.

Opal? Where was Sapphire?

The room fell silent as Aquamarine began to stare out the door. Everyone's head turned to look at Diamond. One face walked forward from the living room to see why it had gotten so quiet all of a sudden. Then, she saw Diamond.

Hello, everyone. Especially you, Jet and Diamond. I'd like to say hi and sorry for the rude behavior. Sapphire thought, broadcasting it around the kitchen. Diamond turned and smiled. Smiled. Sapphire looked at her, and realized what Diamond would say if she knew.

Jet looked. He couldn't believe his eyes. There was Sapphire, apologizing to him. From talking with 004 earlier, he decided now was the best time to give Sapphire his gift. Or maybe not.

Sapphire walked in and seated herself next to Albert. She looked sad, like she was about to cry. She brought her knees up to her chest and buried her face in the folds of her sweatshirt. Letting her thoughts go on 'let everyone hear' mode, she told them something.

You guys, while we were looking for Diamond, I saw something weird. There was this person, you see, who was sitting underwater. No, 008, she wasn't a cyborg. She was human. It wasn't like she was scared or anything, she just sat there. I'm telling you, I think it's Black Ghost. It's fine you don't believe me, it's just a thought on the matter.

"That's a good thought, Sapphire." Albert told her. "I wonder if it is Black Ghost, and they've started to expand their enterprise."

Diamond walked meekly into the room, not feeling very welcomed. She sat between Garnet and Amethyst, who grinned. The others began to look at her with anxious glances. Diamond looked at what she was wearing. Great, she thought.

That hadn't all been a dream. It had all been real.

"You're on of us now, huh?" Joe asked Diamond sarcastically. "I guess Black Ghost needed..."

"Not now, 009. She hasn't realized what a huge impact Black Ghost had on her life." Albert told Joe.

"No, it's alright, 004. I think I'm going through shock now. Now I guess I really am one of you." Diamond said. Francoise felt pity. Diamond had had a whole life ahead of her, and Black Ghost had to steal it away before she got into her teenage years, even. "But I still think that I'm able to create cyborgs. Was anyone in the place where I was asleep recently, cause there's a new cyborg in there." Diamond announced.

Just then, a large flame shot through the kitchen, scaring Chang half to death.

"Hello. I'm Topaz."

"Sir, Diamond has moved." Takegara told Black Ghost. He was so pleased with himself for planting that tracking device on Diamond.

"Good. Prepare to send 0016 after them." Black Ghost returned, feeling pleased himself. That tracking device had been a stroke of genius. It wasn't often you got to watch rebels try to escape your empire.

Mika had gotten back home. She retreated to her room, flopped onto the bed, and surveyed her room.

All over the walls were pictures of anime characters, including 009. this is true for the real me too! Mika put on her headphones and listened to what CD was in there.

(Oh, you know I have seen, a woman of means and rags on begging for pleasure. Crossed, a river of salt, just after I rode a ship that's sunk in the desert. And I have seen, darker than ebony. And now it seems, that I, without your eyes could never live.)

Mika felt like singing, but knew her dad would hear. She decided against it and started to play Poke'mon Sapphire Version.

Topaz and Aquamarine weren't getting along very well. Since their powers were opposite fire and water, they felt the need to fight. Peridot felt the need to stop them, so she became invisible and jumped on Aquamarine's back. This didn't do any good. Aquamarine shot a huge waterspout at Peridot, who sided with Topaz.

"ENOUGH!" Amethyst screamed. "You guys need to settle your differences. Right now, you need to go to sleep."

Aquamarine sent yet another waterspout at Amethyst for this. It never did reach her, though. Sapphire stood there, eyes aglow.

"You guys had better stop, or I swear I'll lock you outside." Sapphire yelled. She was mad.

Sapphire hoisted Diamond clearly into the living room. Diamond stood there puzzled. Then she saw a flame shooting after her. From there, she didn't waste any time. Diamond neutralized all of their powers. Pearl wandered in, looking for the source of noise. Her powers, too, were temporarily stopped.

"No more fighting. If there is anymore, you know what will happen." Sapphire told them. Diamond let them have their abilities back. Both walked out of the room, feeling good.

008, can we surface for a short while? Sapphire asked, waltzing into the control room. Mostly everyone else had gone to bed.

"Sure thing, Sapphire." Pyunma told her. He had learned from 002's mistake: never mess with Sapphire. The Dolphin surfaced. Sapphire looked outside. It was another perfect night.

Creeping into 002's room, Sapphire found him. Thinking that a large amount of firecrackers were going off inside 002's head, he woke up. She grinned as he looked up at her. "Come with me." She ordered. Jet followed, feeling very puzzled.

Sapphire hauled him up to the top of the Dolphin. The stars shone brightly, and there was a full moon. When she looked again, the Small Mangelic Cloud was there. Sapphire boosted herself up onto the highest part she could get to. She beckoned 002 to join her there. Still puzzled, he followed.

"I'm sorry, 002. I got you something to make up for what I did." Sapphire told him, pulling a black crystal out of her pocket. "This is jet, a crystal with fossilized forms of animals in it. I hope you like it."

Jet stood there, stunned. First, she didn't talk to him, then, here she was. She had given him a priceless gift. "I...uh...errr...have a gift for you too." Jet finally managed to say. Sapphire blushed.

He unsheathed a necklace. It was a silver chain with a sapphire at the end shaped as an 'S'. Sapphire positively glowed. "Jet, how can I thank you?" she asked.

"By telling me what's in the middle of this." Jet told her.

"Oh, that's corundum. It's the raw material that sapphires are made from." Sapphire said.

Jet looked at her. She stood there, glancing at the stars. Her indigo hair flew out behind her, making her look wild and calm at the same time. If only she didn't wear all that black, he thought. "Sapphire? I'm going in now." He said, disappearing into the Dolphin. Sapphire stood there, clutching the necklace. She would wear it, even though he'd given her spinel instead of a sapphire.

But no matter, she thought. Closing her hands around it, it shone. Soon, it had become a sapphire. She smiled at it, then put the necklace on.

"So? How did it go, 002?" Albert asked as Jet reentered the Dolphin.

"It went great." Jet told Albert with a very large grin and an even larger amount of blush. He pulled the slab of jet out of his pocket. "She gave me this."

Albert grinned at Jet. He finally had gotten himself somewhere, instead of arguing. This was a large step up. "So, 002, did you give her the necklace?" he asked Jet.

"Of course he did." Sapphire said, climbing down the rungs of the ladder. "I love it." And Jet saw that she did. She had begun to wear it. It looked so much better on her. "Well, have a good night."

Then, Jet reached out and kissed Sapphire.

Albert smiled. Sapphire kissed him back.

"0016, are you ready?" Takegara asked to the 0016 girls. They didn't respond. It looked like they still needed to develop more before they could be sent after those irritating cyborgs. There wasn't just one 0016. There were two.

Twins, like the ten twins. Black Ghost had ordered replicates of 0017 made, but they had been altered. The ten twins had dismally failed. But now, with someone on the rebel team with two of themselves on the opposing team, how could they compete?

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!! THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO REVIEW! throws large amounts of candy at dishrag1313 and wolfwood11

You guys are all so very awesome! It's the people like you who make me want to stay home all day and write. Reading your reviews makes me think that I NEED to get the next chapter up right away! And if you're one of those people who sends flames.. pulls out a large flaming torch you'll have this to answer to plus, an author block! HEHEHEHE!!

-Until next wacky, insane and downright strange chat,

Mika Shirizawa


	8. Chapter Eight

009: and you were...?  
  
Mika: Hey, I had four tests. You can't blame me, I had to study.  
  
007: what's this? "Got plans? Now you do! You're invited to another sleepover party at Mika's house!"  
  
Mika: GIVE THAT BACK, YOU IMBECIL!!!! *seizes the invitation*  
  
009: *shifty eyes* Studying very hard, I see. A party?  
  
Mika: you aren't invited!  
  
009: yeah, you own the gem girls, ok. What authority does that give you over us?  
  
Mika: maybe I'm the one writing!  
  
007: you have to admit, she's got a good point.  
  
Mika: and oh yeah, I don't own Shakira: Laundry Service  
  
~@~@~@~@~  
  
Diamond was going to finish the gem girl series that night, no matter how much magical energy it took up. She set up gemstones all around the living room-like place to hype her powers. Dumping the turquoise, jade, spinel, zircon, alexandrite, morganite and coral from her pendant, she began.  
  
She was ready. After all, the word diamond had come from the Greek word adamas, which meant unconquerable. Diamond shifted her powers into full. The gems whirled, all managing to sap a large amount of energy from her. They took on human shapes, and Diamond didn't even have to give them powers. They pulled it from their stones by themselves.  
  
Due to a large drain of magical energy, Diamond fell asleep right then and there.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"AQUAMARINE!!!!!" Topaz yelled, for Aquamarine had just run in and dumped a very large amount of iced water on her. "YOU'RE GOING DOWN!!!" Topaz screamed, opening her palms. A large stream of flames shot out of them.  
  
"What is going on?" Pearl asked, poking her head out of the control room. Aquamarine began to giggle insanely. She sprinted away with Topaz close on her tail. They both bumped into someone, however.  
  
This person had blue hair that hit her shoulders. It was tied back in a bandana to keep it out of her eyes. She wasn't especially tall. But there were some interesting features to her, like the cat ears, claws, two-inch long fangs and a tail. They were wearing gloves that had been cut off half way up the fingers. Except for the cat features, this person had blue everything. No, not blue, turquoise. She had even pierced her ears with turquoise studs and small silver hoops. It didn't hurt her appearance to with the claws, being eight inches long, coming out of her knuckles.  
  
"Hi!" she exclaimed, holding up a clawed hand. "I'm Turquoise!"  
  
Six other girls trooped out of the room behind her. Diamond wasn't among them. "Let me introduce you to the latest of the gem girl series."  
  
"Spinel!" shouted a girl with very pale bluish-purplish hair. She had pinkish eyes and a large smile.  
  
"Zircon." Said a girl with goldish-brown hair. Her eyes were the same color as her hair.  
  
"Alexandrite!" exclaimed the girl with forest green hair and eyes.  
  
"Morganite!" the girl with pink hair and eyes shouted.  
  
"Jade." The girl with pale green hair and eyes told them.  
  
"Coral." The girl with red hair and eyes said to them. By now, all the other gem girls had come out to see what the commotion was.  
  
"And now, let ME introduce to you the other gem girls, except Diamond, who created us. We'll tell you our names in order of which we were created!" Aquamarine told them, grinning from ear to ear.  
  
"Garnet."  
  
"Amethyst."  
  
"AQUAMARINE!"  
  
"Emerald."  
  
"Pearl!"  
  
"Ruby."  
  
"Peridot!"  
  
"Sapphire."  
  
"Opal!"  
  
"TOPAZ!"  
  
With introductions finished, they all headed for the kitchen. The total was now eighteen, plus Diamond. They were going to have to get a new vessel to travel in if Diamond made any more.  
  
Chang store in horror when he saw that there was an addition of seven people this morning. Garnet seemed to pick up his vibe.  
  
"Don't worry, 006. I'll go make some more." Garnet assured him. Diamond walked into the room, feeling tired still. With all seven of the new gem girls complete, she could rest. She had finished the series.  
  
"Hello, Diamond!" Morganite shouted.  
  
Diamond wanted to know what gifts she had given the new arrivals. "To those who I made last night, Turquoise, Jade, Spinel, Alexandrite, Zircon, Morganite, and Coral, can you tell me what your powers are?" Diamond asked them.  
  
"I'm part cat." Turquoise told her.  
  
"I have the power of ice." Jade said. Aquamarine grinned. An ally in the battle against Topaz.  
  
"I can call upon the stars for help." Zircon said, looking up.  
  
"I have a fraction of power in the earth. Oh, yeah, and I can fly." Alexandrite said. "And by the way, call me Alex."  
  
"I can dematerialize." Morganite informed them, looking at 007. "Call me Morgan. Morganite' s too long of a name."  
  
"I can call any object to me at any given time." Coral told them.  
  
"I change the weather to what I want it to be. Of course, I don't have full power over this.*" Spinel said, sounding serious. But she wasn't like that.  
  
At that moment, Garnet and Chang cam flying out of the kitchen, loaded up with food. Garnet's arms were teeming with plates of eggs. Spinel came up to her and relieved her of some. Garnet looked glad.  
  
Jet meandered into the kitchen. Seeing eighteen girls, he rubbed his eyes. Either some had duplicated, or more had come in overnight.  
  
Sapphire caught his glare. She winked at him, then returned to staring out of the window. Morgan didn't like this. There weren't enough places to seat them all. There had been just enough with only the first gem girls to sit down.  
  
"Coral, can you get more chairs?" Morgan asked.  
  
Coral unleashed a huge smile. "You bet I can." She told Morgan, wearing an identical grin. She looked at a chair, and suddenly, there were eight more. She smiled. "Told ya, didn't I?" she asked, striking a pose.  
  
"Sure. Yeah. Whatever." Sapphire told her, still looking out the window. She felt omnipresence. And whatever it was, it wasn't a nice one. It was like when you were three and your big sister told you about the boogie man. You had this feeling that it wasn't there, but you always locked the closet door just in case. That was how Sapphire felt. Black Ghost was looming, but where, she didn't know.  
  
"Earth to Sapphire, come in Sapphire. Sapphire, do you read me?" Alex asked. Poor her, Jade thought. Alex got lifted off the floor and rammed into the wall.  
  
[I read you loud and clear, Alex. Leave me alone to seek out Black Ghost.] Sapphire thought. Aquamarine, Alex, Morgan and Topaz sighed. They had wanted Sapphire to stop staring out the window and do something. With many thanks to built-in enhanced hearing last night, they had heard Sapphire and Jet. Sapphire caught their thoughts.  
  
[YOU ARE NEVER TO EVEASDROP ON ME AGAIN OR I WILL ABANDON YOU AT THE OCEAN FLOOR] Sapphire boomed in their minds. That was usually not a good sign. Jet walked into the room, holding his hands up. Sapphire, mistaking him for Aquamarine, sent him up into the air. As she let him back down, she hoisted him up again when he was about an inch from the floor. She made this into a repeated motion.  
  
Turquoise began to smile. Jet was beginning to look sick, and Sapphire was just staring out the window, minding her own business. She also happened to be seeing to Jet's business, too. Sapphire turned around to see how Aquamarine was taking her torture. When she looked, however, she saw Jet. A horrified expression came over her face. Sapphire let Jet down gently, and as soon as she did, he ran to the bathroom. Sapphire frowned ever more at Aquamarine.  
  
"I'm going to go look at the control room." Morgan announced. What she really wanted to do was escape Sapphire's wrath. From what she had seen, Sapphire was a scary person.  
  
Sapphire went into the engine room that she used as a bedroom and changed from pajamas into daytime clothes. Since today had been the day she started to feel the omnipresence, she wore the black safety pin outfit.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Turquoise, too, was paying a visit to the control room. She, like Sapphire, came across the CD player. And, she too, had found Jet's CD collection. The CD Turquoise had stolen was Shakira: Laundry Service. Being a "natural" fighter, she did a cross somewhat between martial arts and a dance to #13: Te Aviso, Te Anuncio [Tango] {translation: Objection [Tango]. It's in Spanish}  
  
(Nunca pense que doliera el amor asi Cuando se entierra en el medio de un no  
  
Y un si Es un dia ella y otoro dia yo Me estas dejando sin corazon Y cero de razon)  
  
Joe looked on as Turquoise did her very odd dance/martial arts/combat practice. Spinel walked in and began to do combat practice with her as the chorus came on.  
  
{for those who care, I'll email you the English lyrics to Objection if you ask me. And also, it does have a great beat!}  
  
(Ay te aviso te anuncio que hoy renucio A tus negocios sucios Ya sabes que estoy de ti vacunada A prueba de patadas Por ti me quede como Mona Lisa Sin llanto y sin sonrisa Que el Cielo y tu madre cuiden de ti Me voy sera mejor asi)  
  
Amethyst walked in and avoided combat practice and switched the music off. Turquoise and Spinel stopped, too. Amethyst felt almost premature next to the latest models. She had been made in a laboratory, unlike them. They'd been made by Diamond's magic. She, Garnet, Aquamarine, and Emerald had been made by hand, so to speak. But then again, they had been made first.  
  
"I've already had breakfast. 008, do you want me to pilot for a while?" Amethyst asked, wandering over. Diamond now too walked in, and Joe saw her in a new light.  
  
Diamond wore a denim skirt today, instead of the cyborg' s traditional uniform. She was wearing a black blouse to cover up a black tank top. The diamond pendant was around her neck, like it should have been. Diamond grinned at him. Life felt slightly more normal.  
  
"Sure, Amethyst." Pyunma said, accepting her offer. It was going to be nice to take a break from the controls for awhile.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
{and finally, we see Black Ghost!-Mika}  
  
The 0016 twins were almost ready. The administrative faculty wanted to see how they worked. Judging by all the extras they had given the 0016's, they should be fine in combat.  
  
Besides, they didn't know about the seven latest gem girls. They also happened to be oblivious to the fact that Diamond had fantastic magical powers.  
  
And when she had fantastic magical powers, it was the understatement of this half of the century.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Zircon invested in exploring the Dolphin. Coral participated in similar activities, expanding where it was needed. Zircon asked if she could put in a larger window so she could stargaze. Coral did it in a flash.  
  
Spinel was experimenting with what she could do. So far, she had managed to start a mini-tornado in the living room. She had also sided with Topaz in the fire vs. water battle. Topaz would give her a flame and she could spin it into a fire whirlwind. Aquamarine had to peel off her jacket; this fight was getting intense.  
  
Ruby had gotten herself stuck doing dishes with Garnet, Emerald, and Jade. Most of the gem girls had tangled themselves up in the never-ending battle between fire and water. As if struck by lightning, Sapphire and Francoise came racing into the kitchen.  
  
"We think that Black Ghost is tracking us. We also think that they're about to send Diamond clones after us in a matter of days." Both said, panting for breath.  
  
Everyone heard this. Panic struck Diamond's mind.  
  
Luckily, she wasn't the only one to faint from shock.  
  
~@~@~@~@~  
  
Mika: SPRING BREAK IS UPON ME!!!  
  
007: can I please come to the party? Pretty please? *changes into a small crying girl*  
  
002: that is really pathetic.  
  
Mika: not as pathetic as you, though.  
  
002: *runs away*  
  
Mika: OK!! I'll be seeing you a lot since I have spring break! Read and review, and I'll see you very soon!  
  
009: like after a party?  
  
Mika: oohh, you and my dad, I'll get you...  
  
[and to tell you the honest to god damn truth, I don't really look Japanese. Who knows? Maybe I might not even be Mika in real life. You're just reading, not seeing. But I like being named Mika.] 


	9. Chapter Nine

Sora: I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaack!  
  
Mika: hey Sora!  
  
Sora: can you make me friends with Zircon?  
  
Mika: no, sadly I can't.  
  
Sora: oh well...  
  
009: Mika doesn't own Cyborg 009 or anything in it  
  
Mika: hey, you did the disclaimer!  
  
009: so? You had a party that you didn't let us come to. I'll see you later! *flies away*  
  
~@~@~@~@~  
  
Black Ghost had decided to pay another visit to Aquamarine. She was so gullible, he thought. Once he had her convinced that 0017 was going to shut her system down, Aquamarine would be like a chess piece. And as an added bonus at no extra cost, he had sixteen others.  
  
And, now that the two 0016's were finished, he had the perfect opportunity to steal back 0017. Black Ghost was definitely ready to see them squirm under his power.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"There it is again." Mika said to herself, getting frustrated by the lines of magic. There would be one huge jump, then it would all be calm. It was getting on her nerves. Jumping off her bed and returning volume three of Cyborg 009 to her bookshelf, she wandered out of her bedroom.  
  
Both her sisters were playing their Gameboy Advances. Neither of them saw her walk out the front door. If they had, it wouldn't have made a difference. They would've thought that she was going to sit in the armchair outside on the porch. Once Mika was about three blocks away, she let a pair of wings out of her back. Kicking off the ground, she took to the skies to find Diamond.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Diamond had felt a huge wave of magical and electric energy flow through her body. It was too much for her to handle. She tried to steady the magical waves with her own magic, but her magic only covered a small portion of what needed to be done. She couldn't compete. She collapsed.  
  
Zircon, too, felt a disruption. She froze, mid-step. Looking in front of her, she saw a man in a black cape staring back at her. She screamed and tried to move. Aquamarine and Topaz came dashing in with 002 on their heels, thinking it had been Sapphire. Zircon just stood there, letting a bloodcurdling scream out.  
  
[SAPPHIRE!! SAPPHIRE, HELP ME!!] she mentally blared. Her voice was disabled.  
  
[What is it, Zircon? Trying to break the sound barrier?] Sapphire asked, for she too had heard Zircon scream.  
  
[No! I've been immobilized. I can't move a muscle. I feel Black Ghost] she told Sapphire, then passed out.  
  
"RUBY!" Sapphire yelled. Ruby came sprinting out of the kitchen with Garnet and Chang with her. Then, Sapphire felt the presence from earlier. Only this time, it was much, much stronger.  
  
[Having fun?] a voice asked inside her head.  
  
[Get your god damned voice out of Zircon's and my head.] Sapphire barked.  
  
[I can't do that. Then I would have to sacrifice 0017.]  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Mika nearly screamed herself. The amount of pain she was feeling was off the chart. Magic was no question here. This had obviously been done by tidal waves of magic. She called upon the three magics deep within herself. Sending the magic upon the pain, Mika halted mid-air.  
  
The pain subsided. It was because she had called it off, or that its source had been cut off. Mika kept flying, knowing where that surge had come from.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Morgan saw Sapphire standing there, indigo eyes wide. Joe looked too; asking 001 what was going on.  
  
[So Black Ghost is the cause of this?] Joe asked Ivan.  
  
[That's right, 009.]  
  
[But how is he doing it, 001?] Albert asked, coming into the conversation. [This isn't 0016, is it?]  
  
[No, 004, this isn't 0016. Like 003 said, 0016 is coming soon. Black Ghost is seeing to this personally.] Ivan told them.  
  
Peridot walked out of her new bedroom. She bumped into Turquoise, who was quite contentedly listening to a CD. Peridot wondered what all the screams were about. Then she heard a voice, like the rest on board the Dolphin.  
  
[Be prepared, cyborgs. You have yet to see my might. Aquamarine, I can not thank you enough for finding them for me. I shall see you all, especially you, Aquamarine, later.] Peridot broke into a run. How could Aquamarine side with Black Ghost?  
  
Sapphire still stood there, staring out the window. She had been right about the omnipresence. Morgan looked at her, then out the window.  
  
Alex was there, flying through the skies. She seemed to be looking for something.  
  
[Did all of you get that transmission also?] Sapphire asked everyone. All the responses said yes, even Alex. She had been outside throughout the whole episode. [So, they really are after us and Diamond. What do we do?]  
  
[First off,] Joe said, [We need to get all of us in here and talk.]  
  
[Got it.] Sapphire told him, setting off to get all her sisters.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"Aquamarine, why did you side with them?" Topaz asked. "I knew that we were playing a game of war, but does it matter that much to you?"  
  
Aquamarine sat there, curled up into a ball. Everyone was looking at her. She felt awful about ever leaving home to find the cyborgs. "I didn't side with them! He tricked me!" she wailed. Britain looked at her. Judging by her look, she wasn't lying.  
  
"You guys, I think she's telling the truth." Alex said. "If she wanted to destroy us, wouldn't she have done it by now?"  
  
"Yeah, I agree with Alex. We would have been toast by now." Peridot told them. Zircon was absent. Peridot wondered where she was.  
  
Aquamarine racked her brain. How was Black Ghost tracking her? But what if...  
  
"I don't think they're tracking me, Topaz. He wants 0017, who I'm guessing is Diamond. When they kidnapped her, they must have put a tracking device on her." Aquamarine told Topaz. Then, she got up to find Diamond, who was absent also.  
  
When she found Diamond, she was unconscious. Looking at Diamond, she Aquamarine tried to find the tracker. Then she saw it on Diamond's left shoulder. There was something else there, too. It was shaped like a red diamond. Aquamarine had no clue what it was*. She pulled off the tracking device and squashed it with her foot. Emerald had come out to investigate what Aquamarine was doing.  
  
"So there you are, Zircon." Emerald said kindly, looking at Zircon. Zircon was out cold on the floor. Emerald closed her eyes to check for a virus in her system.  
  
[Sapphire, I need you NOW.] Emerald said, sounding very alarmed. [Diamond and Zircon are unconscious. It isn't normal. I can't even access their systems to check for viruses.]  
  
[I'll be right in] Sapphire said, starting out to the living room.  
  
Aquamarine's eyes suddenly glazed over. She floated about six inches off the ground. Sapphire walked into the room and hurried over to where Emerald was. She tried mental contact with Aquamarine to see if she would back her up. There wasn't a response.  
  
Sapphire swiveled around and found her sister hovering above the ground. "Emerald, something's gone very, very wrong." Sapphire said, her voice shaking.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Inside Aquamarine's head, Black Ghost was having tea with her.  
  
"So, Aquamarine, do you agree to my terms?" he asked.  
  
"No, you asswipe." She barked, clenching her fists. Bindings sprang out of the chair and caught her in them.  
  
"Now, now, that isn't the way we talk." Black Ghost said in a voice coated with sugar. "Just say yes and I'll wake all of you up. If you don't agree, you will remain here until both of my new cyborgs have crushed the prototypes."  
  
"Still no."  
  
"Very well then." He said, his voice returning to normal. "You are going to remain here until the 0016 twins have been defeated, which is never."  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Zircon, Diamond and Aquamarine had been brought to the infirmary for examination by Gilmore. Sapphire had escaped up onto the top of the Dolphin after she had pushed Aquamarine into the infirmary. Jet tried to get up, but Sapphire had sealed the door with her magic. He cursed at it, then left.  
  
Turquoise had been listening to her CD the whole time. Even through the "meeting", she had had them on. Once it had been dismissed, she had clipped the player to her capri pants and begun to do her combat practice again. It was very interesting to watch.  
  
Ruby had seated herself on the couch in the living room. Creating a barrier of energy around herself, she started to look back. She saw only when Diamond had collapsed due to the overwhelming amount of energy. Then, a very disturbing image entered her view.  
  
It was Black Ghost, torturing the three that were unconscious. She instantly stopped the flow of images and let the barrier down. Spinel came in, not looking very pleased.  
  
"I tried to start a tornado, thunderstorm, hailstorm, and the worst of weather you can think of outside. I don't think I should have done it." She said, sounding glum. As she spoke, Sapphire came flying in. She was soaked and looked like she'd been hit by a tornado.  
  
That had been exactly what had happened. "Spinel, let's go fix it now." Sapphire said, heading back out. "We need to stop it sooner or later."  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Black Ghost was enjoying himself for the fist time in many, many years. Seeing that he could scare the hell out of the most powerful cyborgs in the world was enough to make anyone smile, at least.  
  
"Sir, we have lost 0017 on radar." A sergeant said to Black Ghost.  
  
"Now, send both copies of 0016 after them. They are approximately ten degrees north of where they where when we last made contact." Black Ghost told him.  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Mika felt it. But this time, she used the magic to lead her to Diamond.  
  
The time was now. No more stalling. Both of the 0016 twins were out for blood.  
  
~@~@~@~@~  
  
* - [I need to stop the asterisks ^-^;;;] anyway, you haven't been introduced to my fully crazed world. Diamond is the Ace of Diamonds, which is a pretty powerful card going by my stats. Of course, you don't know them yet... *mysterious grin*  
  
Once you learn the four suites by me, you'll see this story in a whole new light.  
  
-Mika 


	10. Chapter Ten, Part One

Mika: So that last chapter was all leading up to this: the 0016 twins come in. Now that you've met everyone, we need to have them fight. You'll see how I do for my first battle. I bet it'll suck...  
  
009: Mika doesn't own any of the cyborgs under and at 009.  
  
Mika: *kisses 009*  
  
Mika's real boyfriend: stalker.  
  
Mika: I AM NOT A STALKER!!! *tries to kick him*  
  
Boyfriend's friend: *gets kicked instead and jumps around*  
  
~@~@~@~@~  
  
Sapphire saw two streaks coming toward them in the south. It wasn't part of Spinel's storm. They had just finished cleaning that mess up. One streak was black and the other was blue. Francoise saw it, too, and alerted everyone of it.  
  
"So what do we do?" Alex asked. She was panting for breath, since she had been out flying to see if what Sapphire and Francoise was true. Unfortunately, it was. The two streaks turned out to be the 0016 twins on zoom-cam. "They're going to be here in a matter of hours."  
  
"So we suit up and go meet them." Said Albert. Britain nodded in approval. "We fight them and win back those three. Unless you have a different plan."  
  
[I'm going to try contact with them.] Ivan told them. He tried to slip past the firewalls guarding their minds. Ivan couldn't manage it. [It's too strong.]  
  
"Damn." Sapphire said. She walked to the infirmary to see if she could do something. Aquamarine's eyes were still wide open in their blank stare. Then a voice made contact with her.  
  
[Sapphire? Sapphire, is it really you?] it was Zircon's voice. Looking at Zircon, Sapphire saw a faint crown of stars surrounding her head.  
  
[I hear you loud and clear, Zircon. Can you tell me anything about 0016?] Sapphire asked Zircon. The crown of stars became brighter.  
  
[First off, we need a favor. We need you to try and access us alone.] Zircon said.  
  
[Already tried at least five times. We couldn't get in.] Sapphire told her, sounding dismayed. [Tell me why there's a crown of stars around your head.]  
  
[Oh, that. I tried to call upon one of the constellations to pull us out of here. I wonder if I really have magic?] Zircon told Sapphire. Then another voice entered the conversation.  
  
[Has 0016 arrived yet?] an exhausted Aquamarine asked. [Diamond's in here, but her magic is all gone. I tried to call upon the water but I couldn't.]  
  
[They haven't come yet.] Sapphire said. She heard a scream. [Change that. They have.]  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Mika hovered over the Dolphin. Two new people were there, both who looked like Diamond. But neither was the real Diamond; for the real Diamond was trapped inside her own mind.  
  
She sighed. It would be very soon that there would be fighting, so she got ready. Surrounding herself in a bluish-purplish-pinkish bubble, she folded her wings up and sat down inside the bubble. To the outside world, unless they had her color magic, she was invisible.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"Well, what now?" Zircon asked Aquamarine.  
  
"I don't know." Aquamarine told her, sinking to the floor. "I can't do anything more. If this is magic, then mine's all gone. I can't do anything."  
  
"I'll try to summon another constellation." Zircon said, but not with much confidence. The crown of stars on her real head shone. Zircon was actually doing it. "Now I just need to find a way around the system."  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
In the outside world, specifically in space, the constellation Libra was awakened. Retaining her human form, she stretched. It had been a very long, long time since she had been able to move. Libra began to head down to Earth.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Both of the 0016 twins had decided on early sabotage. Sapphire had been so alarmed; she had shot a very large beam of energy at Garnet. Garnet, wanting to protect herself, broke through one of the kitchen walls. Joe looked at them curse at one another and shrugged. It wasn't going to do any good if he wasted energy on them.  
  
"Ready, 009?" Peridot asked him sarcastically.  
  
"Yeah, I suppose I am." Joe said. This wasn't going to be very much fun.  
  
Alex kicked Jet hard in the shins. He turned around to kick her back, but she was gone. "Where are you and why'd you do that?" he demanded. A hard hit on his head told him that Alex was on the ceiling. "Oh, very funny."  
  
She sprang down and kept walking, but didn't bother to tell Jet why she'd kicked him. Really, it was because he had been being a jerk to her. Kicking him hard was fun to do, and besides, it would get his anger flowing. Alex began to laugh. She jumped up and out of the Dolphin so she could have a go at 0016.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Zircon sat there, stunned with herself. Libra was in the outside world, working to get them out. She had already successfully gotten Aquamarine out, so now she worked on Zircon.  
  
[I've got you. Now let me pull you out, or you'll be trapped in there forever.] Libra told Zircon. With one great surge of energy flowing through Zircon, her eyes snapped open. Libra smiled "Now would you help me with Diamond?" she asked.  
  
"You bet." Said Zircon. Both girls moved over to where Diamond was laying and grabbed one another's hands. In Aquamarine's vision, she saw threads connecting their hands. Libra said some inaudible words, then looked at Zircon. Zircon, who was facing upward, shot a silver jet of something at Diamond.  
  
Diamond woke up, but unlike Zircon, didn't hop up. She lay there, blinking. "I feel... Diamonds?" she asked herself. "0016!" she shouted, realizing what was going on. She tore out of the room, still in her outfit from earlier {you know, the denim skirt, black top, yeah}. Zircon and Aquamarine walked out behind her, Libra following. Libra was ready to return to her home in the skies.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"I'M TIRED OF SITTING HERE AND WATCHING ALEX KICK ASS! I HAVE TO KICK SOME TOO!" Topaz yelled, storming outside. Unaware that she had just set a fire in her hair, she climbed up and out. Aquamarine walked in with Zircon and Libra with her.  
  
"What was that all about?" Aquamarine asked.  
  
"She needed to get her share of fighting. You know how her personality is; you're the one who's gotten her to be this way." Emerald said, in a very dry voice that was devoid of all emotion.  
  
"Well, I'm going too." Aquamarine announced. "I'll see you later."  
  
"I suppose if they're going, I will too." Jade said.  
  
"Count me in then." Jet said. "I agree with that Topaz person. It's too hard to sit here and watch."  
  
[We may as well all go out, except 001, 003 and Emerald.] Sapphire said. [Besides, then you don't have to send me all your mental problems. It gets annoying after awhile, you know.]  
  
"See you later then, Zircon." Libra said, walking outside. She closed her eyes and vanished. Zircon watched in amazement. She was that she had actually met a constellation.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Outside, Topaz was sending what looked like a flame tornado at a person with blue hair. She cursed as she missed her target. Spinel walked over to her to help. Together, they managed to start a very large tornado, consisting only of fire and heat. The blue-haired person was gone, but Joe met her halfway to her destination.  
  
She quickly sent him flying with a hard whap in the stomach.  
  
Jet found Alex and handed her a pistol. She grinned. "I'm sorry for earlier, 002. I was just in a bad mood because... well, because." She told him, then blushed. Jet became red and flew off.  
  
Aquamarine had caught up with the 0016 twin with black hair. Clenching her fists, she started a tsunami. As she let her fists go, a large barrier grew up around everyone. The 0016 saw the opportunity to escape, and she did with the help of her acceleration switch.  
  
[Aquamarine? Am I seeing double, or are there two 0016s?] Topaz mentally asked Aquamarine.  
  
[They both look like Diamond if you use zoom-cam] Alex told them.  
  
[You're right! I guess Black Ghost made replicas of Diamond.] Aquamarine said.  
  
[It looks that way.] Topaz said, then broke off. Both of them had come back around after trying to penetrate the barrier.  
  
[HOLD THEM OF THAT!] Diamond told everyone. [It's hard enough to maintain it without them trying to break it.]  
  
Alex drew her pistol. It wasn't the one that 002 had given her; it was one that she'd found earlier when she had been exploring the Dolphin. Pointing it at the 0016 with black hair, she shot. It hit her smack in the back of the head.  
  
The 0016 with blue hair flew up to meet Alex. A heated battle began, which ended in Alex dropping at least 100 feet into the ocean. All the 0016 did was laugh. Jet went up in Alex's place, only to meet the same fate.  
  
Sapphire caught him with a psychic bubble. He became very red in a very short amount of time.  
  
[I'll see you later, Jet.] she said, then ran to meet the black-haired 0016. {ok, from now on, I'm calling blue hair 0016b and black hair b0016. So black is before and blue is after.}  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Mika watched. This was getting to be interesting, but not interesting enough to keep her interested. She pulled out a copy of Harry Potter.  
  
~@~@~@~@~  
  
INTERMISSION [actually, it's because of something I forgot to mention in the last last chapter...]  
  
From chapter 8...  
  
*- Once I finish this story, I'm going to write up my one big huge story. So when Alex says she has a portion of power over the earth, it means she has to share it with a goddess. Not that you won't meet the goddesses. Spinel, too, has to share her power with a goddess, like Jade. I think you can guess that Aquamarine has hardly any power over water, despite what you've seen. The whole fic is based around Poke'mon. Hey, I've been a fan since I was seven. That story also has the gem girls in it, plus Mika... so get ready when it comes!  
  
002: like after spring break?  
  
Mika: *runs after 002 with a chainsaw*  
  
Ticket dude: intermission's over!  
  
~@~@~@~@~  
  
Turquoise was having the time of her life. She and 0016b were engaged in a particularly violent hand-to-hand battle. Turquoise, as usual, was doing her martial arts dance kind of thing. Today, she had added the classical elbow in, plus slapping. By any means necessary was she going to win.  
  
With b0016 were the rest of the cyborg team, minus Jet and Alex. They were lying in a crumpled heap next to the Dolphin. Peridot was now fighting b0016 in acceleration mode. Albert could tell it was over when someone was rammed against the Dolphin and fell into the growing pile of defeated cyborgs. He unhinged his knee and fired a missile. b0016 turned around and caught it. Albert fired the other two, and she managed to catch them both.  
  
[Oh shit. I need help, as in I NEED HELP NOW!!] Turquoise's voice told them all, sounding urgent. Opal raced over to help Turquoise. It wasn't a very pretty picture when she got there. Turquoise's face had a large gash running down the right cheek, one of her ears had been cut almost in two, and her arms and legs had innumerable amounts of cuts and bruises. 0016b was standing over her, laughing.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Francoise, too, saw the battered Turquoise. She let out a small scream of terror.  
  
"What's up, 003?" Emerald asked. Her voice was little more than a whisper. There was no need for Francoise to respond.  
  
[Emerald! We need you! Four people are down, and we could use your healing.] Opal told her.  
  
"I'll be back soon, 003." Emerald said, grabbing a pistol. She dashed out, seeing a pile of three people, two being her sisters. Instantly, she healed them. It wasn't like she couldn't do it.  
  
Soon, Opal came dashing over with Turquoise. Turquoise could hardly support herself, let alone fight. Emerald engulfed her with a wave of green flames, and soon, her injuries were things of the past. Turquoise grinned, then ran back to seek revenge. Opal tailed her, and Emerald decided to go with them. She had no clue what in the world 0016 was like.  
  
Emerald and Opal pulled out their pistols. They found places to hide while Turquoise went at 0016b. It was almost worse: after about three minutes, Turquoise was down. Emerald found that it wouldn't be very helpful if she healed Turquoise again. Amethyst came over holding a laser gun.  
  
Sapphire was helping Diamond maintain the solid diamond shield, but it wasn't working very well. Diamond had gotten frustrated and let it down. Focusing her powers elsewhere, a diamond snake came up and out of the ground. Sapphire wandered off to help the three who were fighting 0016b.  
  
b0016 wasn't giving it very much, but she had managed to chase Jet out of the skies again. Albert was giving her every single weapon in his body, but they didn't seem to affect her in any way. Either b0016 would dodge them, catch them, or hurl them right back at him.  
  
[Mind giving me a little help, Alex?] Sapphire asked Alex, who was being chased by b0016. [It'll be easier than what you're doing right now.] she added.  
  
[Be right there. Just let me tell the others.] Alex told her. [I need to go help Sapphire, 004. I'll be back as soon as I can.]  
  
With that, she flew off. As soon as she was gone, it was open season on b0016. Now that they didn't have to worry about accidentally hitting Alex, it was fine to just randomly shoot. They had a new fear, however, when a gigantic diamond snake came out of the ground. It went straight up, aiming for b0016. When Morgan zoomed in on it, she saw Diamond was riding it.  
  
"DON'T SHOOT IT! DIAMOND'S ON IT!" Morgan yelled. She suddenly disappeared and reappeared on the snake with Diamond. Diamond grinned and continued skyward. Unfortunately, b0016 caught sight of them just in time before she was swallowed. Morgan cursed and contacted Coral.  
  
[Coral, I need a gun.] she said. No sooner than she had said it, than there was a rifle in her hand. She aimed at b0016 and fired.  
  
Her shot struck b0016 dead in the head. But b0016 just kept moving. And not in any old direction. It was headed straight for Diamond.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Mika saw it. It was now or never, she thought. Calling her magic, she hurled it at b0016. This time, there was no problem with it being defeated.  
  
Only thing, Mika was out cold. It was fine for her, since she didn't need to be home for awhile.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"Who did that?" Alex asked, landing. "It certainly wasn't me."  
  
[Beats me,] Sapphire told her; [I'm with Emerald.]  
  
Just then, 0016b launched herself into the sky. Amethyst let the laser beam fly, but missed by a long shot. Aquamarine saw, and danced over to Turquoise.  
  
[Coral, can I have a boom box?] she asked, taking the CD out of Turquoise's portable CD player. It turned out she was listen to Shakira again. The boom box came out of thin air, and Aquamarine wasted no time popping the CD into it.  
  
[Oh boy, now we have Aquamarine and the freak circus.] Sapphire said blankly.  
  
[Shut up, Sapphire. You haven't even seen yet.] Aquamarine told her, sounding ticked. She pressed the 'PLAY' button and backflipped up to the top of the Dolphin. From there, she placed one foot behind the other and held her arms out for balance. The song began to play.  
  
[You're going to fall!] Spinel told her, sounding alarmed.  
  
[That's the idea,] Aquamarine said, then fell. But she didn't begin to drown. Instead, a thing quite the opposite happened.  
  
With her previous stance, Aquamarine was doing something between flying and running. It was very fast, but she wasn't moving her legs. Suddenly, 0016b jumped in front of her. Aquamarine flung her arms up, and a large water bubble came around her. Topaz noticed that Aquamarine had fallen, but she didn't know that she was alright.  
  
Calling upon fire, Topaz sent it into a whirlwind at 0016b. Spinel, too, wanted to help Aquamarine. She called rain, hail, and snow out of the clouds. From in the water, a tsunami was growing.  
  
[Explanation of the wacky weather?] Britain asked, looked confused. All three smiled and continued on.  
  
[They're trying to hog the spotlight.] Ruby said.  
  
[I agree.] Garnet added. [What'd ya say? Go and put Aquamarine straight?]  
  
"Count us in." Joe, G. Junior, Chang, and Pyunma said in unison.  
  
"Then let's go!" Ruby exclaimed, running out to where 0016b was. "We don't have eternity, y'know."  
  
~@~@~@~@~  
  
Mika: that has to be the longest update ever!  
  
009: I see you can't even finish a battle scene....  
  
Mika: I decided to hold off on you and split the chapter up!  
  
009: so this is chapter 10, part one?  
  
Mika: yup! So I'll be seeing you all in chapter ten, part two!  
  
002: or in Mikaspeak, whenever the hell I feel like it.  
  
Mika: *continues to chase 002 with a chainsaw* 


	11. Chapter Eleven

Mika: believe me, after three hours at a computer screen, you need a break.  
  
002: suuuuuuuuuuuuuure you did  
  
Mika: in that time while I was gone, I read Fruits Basket and volume four of Cyborg 009  
  
002: whatever.  
  
Black Ghost: let me guess... I'm in the story where this Mika figure doesn't own anything but the gem girls and herself.  
  
Mika: what was that all about?  
  
Black Ghost: *pulls off BG accessories* cause I'm not Black Ghost!  
  
Mika: o_O  
  
~@~@~@~@~  
  
The three elements were coming together as one now. The fire whirlwind had collided with the tsunami, and they were making their way toward 0016b. Spinel's storm was making in more vicious by showering it with chunks of ice. The ice got caught up in the whirlwind and got spat back out in a matter of minutes. Acting like bullets, they aimed at 0016b.  
  
Ruby wasn't in her best of moods. As it turned out, Sapphire had told her it would be a bad idea to interfere quite yet. So Ruby had to wait until she was contacted by one of them. She frowned, then turned to Jade.  
  
"Jade, can you freeze 0016? Then those three would have a better chance of catching her, and we'd stand a better chance of winning against this thing." Ruby asked Jade. Jade looked at her, but understood the request. She let loose a very large amount of ice, but it didn't hit 0016.  
  
Instead, it hit Topaz. In an instant, Topaz had burned it off with a flurry of curses. She seized the excess energy and twisted it into a ball. 0016b soon received that energy ball in the face.  
  
{Ok, since b0016 is out of the running due to Mika's large magic attack, it's safe to call the remaining 0016 just plain 0016.}  
  
Morgan had had enough of riding on Diamond's snake-like beast. She sprang off and dematerialized. Within a minute, she had rematerialized next to Joe. Ruby was looking at her, seeming to have steam coming out of her ears.  
  
"That is it." She stated as she tied her hair up into a loose braid. "I'm not about to let them have all the fun with 0016. Who's coming with me?"  
  
Peridot raced to her side with Garnet in tow. "We're coming." They said.  
  
Ruby took off at top speed, but was flattened by Peridot, who even while towing Garnet, could move extremely fast. Peridot saw her moving slow, so she grabbed Ruby's braid and began to drag her. Britain began to laugh at this. Ruby was shouting at Peridot, but Peridot was giving her no attention. Both of Peridot's passengers were dropped as she stopped. They sat there, and watched Peridot disappear again.  
  
{well, I should tell you that all of them have enhanced vision cause I'm bound to be asked about it, so yeah.}  
  
Garnet sat there, trying to think what to do. By the looks of things on zoom-cam, Peridot was bent on beating Aquamarine to the punch. Topaz, who was still cursing her head off, was actually standing on Aquamarine's shoulders. Spinel was riding on a gust of wind, trying to control her storm. Alex was watching them, also, on zoom-cam.  
  
Suddenly, a thought came to mind. If she could break through walls, why couldn't she break through the earth? In theory, it was merely a large wall. Pressing her hands onto it, she began her effort to break through.  
  
[Alex, direct your attention to Garnet from an aerial viewpoint.] Sapphire told Alex, sounding grim. [You may want to help her if she's going to do what I think she is.]  
  
[Well then, I'll see you soon!] Alex replied, springing to her feet. "I'll see you guys later."  
  
Taking to the skies, Alex saw a very large split in the earth. Soon after, she saw two small red dots. She didn't like how she had to fly; she could have just walked. Oh well, she thought, then landed next to Ruby.  
  
Ruby looked genuinely surprised to see Alex's green hair swishing around next to her. Once Alex came fully into view, it took a little bit of the shock off. Garnet didn't seem to be paying any attention. Both of her hands were firmly pressed into the ground. Her face looked deep in thought.  
  
[Let me help you, Garnet.] Alex said to Garnet, flopping down beside her. She placed one palm to the earth and saw what Garnet was doing.  
  
[Mind if I join in?] she asked.  
  
[You bet. C'mon, we still need to get there before Topaz and Aqua do.] Garnet's voice told her, and judging by the sound of it, it was happy to see her.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"AQUAMARINE!" Topaz yelled, "WE'RE GOING TO CRASH WITH 0016! SLOW DOWN!" Topaz realized what she had done when she had sat down on Aquamarine's shoulders: suicide. Plain and simple. Unless Aquamarine knew what she was doing, they were going to have one nasty incident with the remaining 0016.  
  
"No way, Topaz." Aquamarine called up to her, "I know what I'm doing."  
  
[Let's hit 0016 on three,] Spinel said from 100 feet above them, [Some other people are getting antsy to fight.]  
  
[No kidding,] Topaz commented. [Ruby's about to jump in and fight for herself.]  
  
At that moment, something very like what Topaz had predicted would happen happened: Peridot rammed with all her might in to 0016. She fell backward into the water, seeing as how 0016 had met her with a very large punch.  
  
[1, 2, 3, GO!] Spinel told them, forcing all of the perspiration down on 0016. 0016 wheeled around, only to find that there was more heading toward her. Then, suddenly, she flew upward to where Spinel was and smiled at Spinel.  
  
Looking at 0016, Spinel saw Diamond with blue hair smiling at her. This wasn't right, she thought wildly. Diamond was riding around on a snake thingy at the moment. Her hair wasn't pale blue, it was ice white. So Spinel did the only thing that was non-violent she could do: scream.  
  
Amethyst heard and saw Spinel scream. She saw 0016 eclipsing Spinel, so she aimed the laser gun and fired. Unfortunately, 0016 moved right as she shot, so the laser hit Spinel instead. {I SUCK AT SUSPENSION! ADMIT IT! *rams head into wall*} Amethyst dropped the gun, ran to the edge of the small land strip and flung herself into the ocean. Tears streamed down her face as she saw Spinel's immobile body drop in.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Garnet and Alex had now successfully broken through the wall into a large vat of magma. They asked Ruby is she could get Topaz, since they were busy expanding their hole leading into the magma. Ruby had agreed with relish.  
  
Topaz was now sitting next to them, forming swords out of the liquid magma. She had never thought to use swords against 0016, but it was a thought. When she had asked the zero-zero cyborgs, they had said that they would handle it. She had gotten into a "heated" {catch the pun} with Chang if they couldn't handle it. Topaz had been satisfied only when he had run in to grab a frying pan and she had melted it.  
  
The first sword was completed. Garnet picked it up, and in doing so, broke her connection with Alex. Alex looked up and let out a pressured grin.  
  
Garnet began to swing the sword around to see how it would work. Of course, she didn't have anything to test it on, but she could do her best on her own. It worked very well for her. She tapped Topaz on the shoulder and gave her a thumbs-up signal.  
  
[It works great! May I put a garnet in it?] Garnet stated, smiling.  
  
[Why not? Go kick 0016's ass for me, will you?] Topaz asked.  
  
[You bet! C'mon, Ruby, we've got ass to kick.] Garnet told Ruby.  
  
But Ruby didn't come. A voice was speaking to her. It would only say a few phrases, then fade off. But in time, it came back, strong as ever.  
  
[Yume miru dakeja dame, yume o dakeshimete, kaze to isshimoshi, adding life where it must be edited. How can you look at a problem when you've only seen one face? Go to the other side of life and find it. How can you embrace something when you've only seen one side? Go to alternate realities and find your answers...]  
  
Ruby's head was ringing through the words, You just can't dream, embrace the dream, together with the wind...[RUBY! I'M GOING TO LEAVE TO MURDER 0016 WITHOUT YOU! COMING OR NOT?] Garnet's voice sounded off in her head, sounding ticked.  
  
"I'm coming." She said, standing up. "Where are Peridot and Amethyst? 002, Spinel and Turquoise?" she asked.  
  
"Let's see," Garnet told her, walking at a brisk pace, "Peridot, Turquoise and 002 were defeated by one of the 0016s. Amethyst was trying to shoot the other, but accidentally shot Spinel instead."  
  
"But then, what happened to Amethyst?" Ruby asked, sounding worried.  
  
"Oh, you know her, she's really emotional. She went and ran into the ocean herself after what she did to Spinel." Garnet replied. Her voice was etched with sadness.  
  
"Did she come back yet?"  
  
"No, she's been down there for awhile. I think she can only be underwater for the maximum of an hour, so she probably should come up soon." Garnet said to Ruby, now sounding as if she were at a funeral.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Amethyst had run out of oxygen five minutes ago. She was beginning to compromise the things she had done: created Emerald, sought out the zero- zero cyborgs, rescued Diamond, fought two 0016s, killed Spinel and committed suicide. There wasn't much of a list.  
  
In an instant, she had run out of air. Her system completely failed, so she shut down. Her now lifeless body floated to where Spinel's dead body lay on a rock. It was their final resting place.  
  
Turquoise's cat-like body was on the opposite side of the rock from Spinel and Amethyst. It was ironic how even in death; they remained still as the gem girls.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
"009?" GB's voice asked Joe, who was staring out at the ocean.  
  
"Yes, 007?" he asked, breaking his chain of thought. "What is it?"  
  
"Do you think that they need help? I mean, this is their first battle against Black Ghost." GB told him.  
  
"Good point, 007!" Chang exclaimed. "They'll need help sooner or later. Why don't you go and attack 0016 while I stay here?"  
  
"You're coming with us, 006. What if Topaz needs to melt something to turn into another sword? Why we have-"Britain began, but didn't get to finish. Chang had blown flames at him.  
  
"If we're going to go, we should go now." Pyunma said, also looking out into the water. Joe took off at top speed, ready to tackle anything that got in his way this time. Pyunma dove into the water and began to swim with inhuman speed. Chang, GB {you can infer}, Albert, and Geromio ran after them, wanting to get in their share of the battle.  
  
Garnet placed her stone into the hilt of the sword. Feeling herself surge with power, she ran out to meet 0016. She bumped into 009 on her way there. Soon after, 008 sprang out of the water. Both glared at her, like she was some forgein object. All Garnet did was smile at them.  
  
Zircon walked up to them, her eyes looking an odd color of jet black. She had this haunted appearance to her, like someone who had been possessed. Zircon's eyes, aside from being black, had a blank stare.  
  
"Hello, 009." She said, with a scary tone. "I've been looking for you."  
  
With this, Zircon drew out an AK-47 and pointed it at the approaching 006. 0016 suddenly appeared in the sky, looking at Zircon. She was holding a sniper's rifle to get anyone who tried to get her. When Ruby caught sight of her, she flew away. Ruby sighed and drew out her own AK-47. Garnet was looking at her now, instead of at Zircon. Ruby nodded at her, and she swung her sword at Zircon, her eyes tight shut. Zircon caught the sword, and let it go back to Garnet. Then, Zircon changed positions so instead of having her gun aimed at Joe, it was facing Garnet. Zircon fired.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Mika woke up, dazed. Then she remembered that she had preformed magic to help Diamond. They were still out there, fighting like there was no tomorrow. She voted against herself to use any more magic. If she did, then she would be asleep for more than just a few hours.  
  
Even still, Mika wanted to stay and watch the turnout. It would be interesting to watch. Sitting herself up, Mika focused her attention on 009.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Garnet had a look of utter shock on her face as she fell. Ruby immediately contacted four people: Emerald, Topaz, Alex and 003.  
  
[Zircon just shot Garnet!] Ruby told them.  
  
[Why'd she do that?] Topaz demanded.  
  
[I don't know.] Ruby told her earnestly.  
  
[I'm getting over there now. Hell with making swords, you guys need help.] Alex said hurriedly, jumping up. Kicking off, she flew a mere six feet from the ground. News that Garnet was down was bad.  
  
[I'll be there in a minute.] Topaz told her, also pulling herself up off the ground. [I may be of some assistance.]  
  
[I may as well get over closer.] Emerald said. She marched over to where Ruby stood. Zircon grinned now at Albert, who had just arrived.  
  
"My creator tells me that you're prototype 004," she stated, "She also says you're a walking arsenal. Is it true?"  
  
"Yeah, he is. What does it matter to you?" Joe demanded. Zircon gave him a very haunted look.  
  
"Because I want to challenge one of you to a death match and see if you're worthy enough to face my creator." Zircon told them all, still wearing the same grin.  
  
"Don't...do...anything." Diamond's ragged voice told them. "She's possessed. When she talks about her creator, she's talking about...0016."  
  
"You are no one to talk about my creator that way." Zircon snapped, oddly black eyes flashing. "You look just like her."  
  
Ruby realized she was right. 0016 looked just like Diamond, except the hair and eyes. But Diamond was 0017, so how come 0016 was different? How come they hadn't given Diamond any powers?  
  
"I challenge you, prototype 0017, to a death match. We fight to the other's death. Do you accept?" Zircon asked, the haunt returning to her smile.  
  
"I'll take it instead." Albert said, walking up to her. "0017 doesn't have any experience. Besides, I'm a worthier opponent."  
  
Diamond just stood there, staring at him. Her gratitude was beyond words. He seemed to understand her and winked. Zircon drew a very long, sword-like object. It had stars all the way up the blade, which was silver. The hilt housed a pale pink gem, which Ruby recognized as a spinel. Diamond was quite willing to try and slip in so 004 would have a higher chance of winning.  
  
"Before we start," Zircon began, wheeling around so she faced Ruby; "I believe prototype 0017 needs a reminder of what happens to prototype 004 if he loses."  
  
Zircon held up the long blade and brought it down, thinking about it. Then, she drove it through Ruby. A wicked smile jerked onto her face as Ruby tried to cover to hole in her body. Ruby fell wordlessly to the ground, still bleeding profusely. Zircon kicked Ruby's body into the water without a word, but with a very haunted smirk on her face.  
  
Albert walked out to meet her. An eerie light played in her dark eyes. She held the sword out at him, like a symbol to fight. Understanding what it meant, Albert open-fired at her. All the bullets were deflected with her sword, and she truly smiled.  
  
{Before we go any further, I have to tell you I've written this part five times over. The first four times, my computer shut down without me saving most of it. Now it won't let me into the original copy, which I recovered from when the computer shut down. My stupid computer keeps telling me that the file is in use, but who would be using it? In addition, I have to store them on another drive so one doesn't get to loaded! *wails*}  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Coral was perched now on top of a tree, using her zoom lens to find 0016. Alex was in the skies searching for 0016 with two pistols. Sapphire and Ivan were helping Diamond hack Zircon's system so 004 could win. All four were in contact with the others, if something happened to go wrong.  
  
Diamond had just slipped past the main firewall. In Zircon's system, there was tons of coded data. Over half of it hadn't been installed by Diamond, the only one who had access to their systems.  
  
[Diamond, give us a heads-up when you get done with getting in.] Sapphire told her.  
  
[I'm in. Don't come in, Sapphire, or you for that matter 001. I'll handle this on my own.] Diamond stated simply.  
  
[Can I possibly get in there and check for a virus?] Emerald asked, sounding innocently sorry.  
  
[No, Emerald, I prefer it if you don't.] Diamond told her, wanting to get back to work.  
  
[Fine then.] Emerald said.  
  
Diamond dove back into the heaps of codes. She plucked out the ones she knew weren't in the original encodement. She felt someone poking her, but chose to ignore it.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Jade had investing in poking Diamond. She wanted to tell Diamond that her body was glowing white all over and sending out white waves all around. Looking around, she saw that Zircon was having trouble moving.  
  
Zircon was beginning to have trouble moving her legs, but it didn't matter to her. As long as she had arms, she was all right. Drawing out her throwing stars, she sheathed her sword. The throwing stars were shaped as stars, but each had a dagger on each point. Zircon hurled them at Albert. Since they were made of titanium steel with a core of diamond, they should have been able to penetrate his armor.  
  
"Nice trick. But it won't fool me." Albert stated, shooting the throwing stars before they had the chance to hit him. Zircon frowned. She hadn't wanted to use her favorite one, but she had no choice. Drawing her last throwing star, made of a combination of diamonds and zircons, she tossed it at Albert with all her might.  
  
Of course, Albert shot it. It didn't stop its course for one second. Zircon cracked out another haunted smile. This throwing star was on that was almost unbreakable, unless she willed it to break. With mental control on it, it was the perfect weapon. Albert shot at it once more. It swerved around to head at Joe. Unexpectedly, it changed course once more and was rapidly approaching Albert. He tried to duck this, but it wasn't like the sword.  
  
[I'VE GOT IT!] Diamond's voice rang through all their heads. Zircon froze suddenly, but the star kept going on free mode.  
  
[How'd you do it?] Sapphire asked, sounding energetic. [001 and I tried forever to break through the first firewall, but we couldn't. I guess now you guys are out to fight the puppeteer, 0016?]  
  
[You're helping.] Topaz stated skeptically. ['Cause we aren't going to get her without you. You could try and get into mental contact with her.]  
  
[I'll help, but not by doing that. Do you want me to look for those who have been wiped out and bring them to the Dolphin?] Sapphire asked.  
  
[That sounds good, and you can take Alex with you.] Morgan stated. She was getting bored, since all she was doing was sitting around playing with the zoom and infrared lenses.  
  
Sapphire sprang off the Dolphin and called for Alex. [You need to get down here,] she told Alex, [Since we're going to go and find everyone who isn't here.]  
  
Alex headed down for Sapphire. She stuffed the two pistols into her cargo pockets and landed next to Sapphire, who was wearing a blank expression.  
  
"Let's look in the water first, since some of them are bound to be there." Alex said, glancing at Sapphire.  
  
"Ok, can you fly underwater?" Sapphire asked her, touching her psychic energy store. Going underwater wasn't going to be a death-defying act, so all she needed was a bubble of energy.  
  
"Of course I can!" Alex exclaimed. "Let's go, shall we?"  
  
"Let's get going, then." Sapphire said, then encased herself in a large indigo bubble. She dove into the water, followed by Alex who flew into the water. Both looked for any sign that anyone was in the water before making contact with one another.  
  
[I don't see anyone.] Sapphire told Alex, [Do you?]  
  
[No, but let's split up and search for them,] Alex said, looking around. [You go left and I'll go right.]  
  
[Deal.] Sapphire stated, then swam away in her bubble. Nothing was there but the open sea. In the distance, she saw the Dolphin's hull. Sapphire went further down, but it didn't do much good.  
  
Alex was having just about as much luck as Sapphire. Nothing was in view for miles around, or so it seemed. Just then, a flicker of light caught her eye. She knew it was most likely garbage or one of the fragments of Zircon's throwing stars, but she went over to check it out anyway.  
  
When she got there, she let out a gasp of horror. Spinel, Amethyst, Ruby, and Turquoise lay on one rock. Out of nowhere, Garnet's body plunged into the water, dead like the others. Alex got Sapphire immediately.  
  
[SAPPHIRE! I found them!] Alex screamed in her mind to Sapphire. Sapphire suddenly came out of the water next to her in the indigo bubble. She, too, was rendered speechless. At long last, she let out a great sigh.  
  
[You take two and I'll take three of them. If you can contact Emerald, tell her we need her on the Dolphin in fifteen minutes.] Sapphire told Alex. She picked Spinel, Turquoise and Ruby and drew them into her bubble. After that, she allowed it to rise up with the four of them in it. She seemed to be in a strain with the extra weight of Spinel, Turquoise and Ruby, but Alex didn't say anything.  
  
[Emerald,] Alex called out, [Emerald, please respond.]  
  
[Yes?] Emerald asked.  
  
[Can you meet Sapphire and I on the Dolphin in fifteen minutes?] Alex asked in turn.  
  
[Sure, but may I ask what for?]  
  
[You'll see, but can you bring 002 with you?]  
  
[Don't worry, I've got him.] Sapphire told them.  
  
[Well then, I'll see you both in fifteen minutes!] Emerald exclaimed, breaking their connection. She shouted out to Jade that she'd be on the Dolphin if she was needed. Jade nodded and grinned. Emerald broke into a run to the Dolphin.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
In ten minutes, Emerald burst into the Dolphin, and only stopped when she saw Sapphire's indigo hair. She sat down and panted.  
  
"What happened to you, Emerald?" Alex asked.  
  
"I....ran....all the way...here." Emerald told her in between huge gasps. Sapphire was sitting in midair, deep in thought.  
  
"But, the true question is, what happened to all them." She stated, dropping back down to the floor. "There's six, and they weren't all wiped out by Zircon in her hacked stage. Only Ruby and Garnet were. My guess is that the 0016 with black hair did them in."  
  
"Did who in, Sapphire?" Emerald asked, sitting up.  
  
"You didn't see during your sprint on the way over? You didn't see as you came in here?" Sapphire asked, stepping aside. Then Emerald saw for the first time that there were six people behind Sapphire, none of which was mobile.  
  
Alex noted that Emerald's eyes became much wider as she gaped at the six. "Well, now you see why we called you here, so can you help?" Alex asked.  
  
"O..of course." Emerald said, her voice quavering. She walked over to Jet and closed her eyes. His system didn't have a virus, or didn't appear to. She sank in deeper, but there was nothing there. Pulling herself out, she healed the surface wounds, which were easy enough.  
  
Turquoise had the same process repeated, since there weren't very deep wounds. Ruby was harder, since Zircon had dug deep into her. Spinel was terribly difficult, and she wasn't particularly easy. Garnet had been easy, and so was Amethyst. Emerald had had her work cut out.  
  
"Wow." Alex stated, staring in awe at Emerald. Emerald sat down and closed her eyes. Even doing all those things had done her in. It was more than she was used to; which was usually one person every few days with only minor injuries. But today there had been six people, all with pretty large wounds.  
  
"Wazzap, Emerald?" Alex asked, noticing how Emerald suddenly looked so tired. "You alright?"  
  
Emerald didn't respond. She had fallen asleep right in front of them. Sapphire went over and tapped her shoulder. Nothing happened.  
  
[Well, then, she can sleep, but I'm going to get Zircon. Coming?] she said to Alex.  
  
"Nah. I'll stay here and watch. If it gets really bad, call me." Alex replied.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Zircon collapsed onto the ground. 0016 zoomed down to stand in front of Diamond. Joe looked at both of them and saw how alike they looked. All their features were the same, except the color of their hair and eyes. Diamond seized the pendant around her neck.  
  
0016 made no response. Sapphire looked, then decided what she would do. She drew the dagger out of her right shoe and held it up. Pulling all her strength in, she flung the dagger at 0016.  
  
Sapphire didn't believe what happened. The dagger halted just before it hit 0016 and turned to hurl itself at Sapphire. Sapphire stopped it and disintegrated it so she wasn't killed. 0016 turned to face Sapphire.  
  
"So you're Sapphire?" 0016 asked, walking to Sapphire.  
  
"And if I am, why does it matter to you?" Sapphire snapped back. The aura around had become indigo.  
  
"Just asking." 0016 stated. She turned around once more to face Diamond. Diamond yanked the pendant off her neck and threw it at 0016. 0016 couldn't do anything. The pendant began to elongate itself so it made a very pretty star-shaped solid [I got the ideas from math and Brigadoon manga, math for the solid]. All the points housed different varieties of gems. Sapphire looked horrified.  
  
0016 sprang back with a look of terror. The star became a replica of Diamond. She smiled at 0016 at held a diamond-hilted sword in the air. 0016 drew one of her arms in and a sword grew back in its place.  
  
"Shall we?" the Diamond replica asked 0016.  
  
"I accept your challenge with pleasure, 0017. I am glad your replica is taking your place in battle, since Black Ghost wants you returned safely." 0016 said, then marched out to meet the false Diamond.  
  
~@~@~@~@~  
  
Mika: I'm so very sorry that I have to divide this chapter into THREE parts!  
  
002: bimbo.  
  
Mika: *saws his hair off*  
  
002: MY BEAUTIFUL HAIR! DON'T LOOK AT ME! *runs away*  
  
Mika: well, the document was getting far too long, so I had to post. Way sorry it took so long, but read the author's note for a full account. I took SOO long on this chapter, since my mom nearly deleted it. I had to hide in my room for a while, but when I came out, Brigadoon had arrived! It only took me an hour and a half to read, so then I finished this part out. The weekend's here, so I'm going to aim to get it done!  
  
007: what's wrong with that ass 002?  
  
Mika: *hides chainsaw* dunno.  
  
007: well then, I'll see ya! 


	12. Chapter Twelve

Mika: WHEE! DA FINAL PART OF CHAPTER TEN! THE END OF THIS BATTLE!

002: paper bag on it better be after what you did to me!

Mika: smirks

002: YOU HAVE NEVER OWNED ME AND YOU NEVER WILL! HA!

Mika: you just did the disclaimer...you are sort of useful.

0016's arm clashed with the false Diamond's sword. As they met, the false Diamond's appearance altered.

She no longer looked like Diamond, but had short orangey-brown hair and eyes. She wore her hair short, and had glasses. Diamond looked, speechless.

It was Amber.

"A...Amber, where h-have you b-b-been?" Diamond sputtered, shocked by her appearance. Her sister had been missing for almost six years now, and here she was, like they'd been together the whole time. Amber smiled, but didn't speak.

0016 took note of what had happened. Black Ghost would be so pleased to have 0017 plus another. She retracted the sword so her arm was in its place once again. Black Ghost wasn't even her creator.

Yugi, the same person who had helped Diamond was her creator. Black Ghost had found them them meaning both 0016s out doing something. They weren't even originally 0016; they had been called Black and Blue. Before, they'd both led different lives, as near to humans as could be.

But Black Ghost had stolen what Yugi had worked on and made it his own. Now called 0016, they had set out to destroy the rebels. Their minds had been altered so they didn't have compassion for anything but one another. But seeing Diamond had brought them out of Black Ghost's spell.

Not even thinking, she tapped into the power Yugi had given her. Instantly, all the gem girls shut down. Sapphire stood there, looking blankly at them. Diamond, too, was frozen. Amber wasn't moving, but she was holding the sword at ready position. None of them were moving, not even Alex had escaped her ream.

"Well then, now that they're out of the way, shall we truly battle?" 0016 asked, facing Joe.

Britain fired at her. She dodged all the bullets with unsurpassed ease. Picking up the sniper's rifle she had been using before, she jumped up into the sky. Something fell off her, though. A microchip hit the ground softly, noticed by nobody.

At 0016's will, the sniper's rifle became a normal rifle. She loaded it and fired at the remaining cyborgs. They fired right back at her, but missed. Again, she had dodged them. 0016 tried to do something, but it didn't work. She tried again, but was unsuccessful. Cursing, 0016 took off at top speed.

"Hey, what's this?" Britain asked, noticing at last the microchip. He picked it up and held it so the microchip gave him his reflection.

"Let me see, 007." Albert said, walking over to Britain. He picked the microchip up and held it in his own hand. Turning it over and over, he looked for what it had come from. Then it dawned on Albert: 0016.

Joe was in the process of unloading another magazine on 0016. All of a sudden, the scene changed. Instead of being out on the ocean, they were all in a deserted city. Nobody was there, except the cyborgs. It appeared to be night, since there was a gigantic moon hanging in the sky. Stars had been sprinkled all across the sky, so there was almost no black sky showing. Electric wires hummed all around them, as if anticipating something. if you've seen or read Lain, you'll recognize the electric wire thing.

0016 herself had taken a seat at the top or a lamppost. One by one, the other cyborgs turned around to face her. She clapped her hands together and smiled.

"Now that we're alone, shall we finish this?" 0016 asked, remaining at her post. Then she noticed Joe looking around in disbelief. "Don't you recognize this place, 009? It's Tokyo, yes. I thought this area of town would remind you of other events." She added, evilly smiling.

One of the trash cans fell over as a cat sprang out of it. The rickety houses swayed in a breeze, but 0016's lamppost didn't budge. She was sitting perfectly still, concentrating on the moon.

There was a sudden jolt in the ground, and the sky turned to indigo and the streets became a little better. Three boys came running down the alley. The lead boy was being chased by the other two.

"Joe, get back here!" one of the boys yelled. The older Joe present nearly fell over from shock. It was Tokyo, and he was seeing himself run down the alley. All three boys disappeared back into the shadows. 0016 watched them leave, them the scene shifted again.

They now were in a very overgrown garden, still at nighttime. Vines were all over; throwing their brambles at anyone who approached without caution. The pathway led out into a circular court, where atop a fountain statue, 0016 sat. The statue she was sitting on this time was of a very pretty girl, holding one hand up, as if trying to catch something. Her face showed sadness.

Another flashback was occurring, but this time, of an unrelated matter. A girl with blond hair came walking down the path. She bent over the fountain to look at something. A different girl came walking from a different path, and the first girl smiled, standing upright again. 0016, for a turn, showed pure terror. The second girl looked straight at 0016 and frowned.

"Sunaziki, what do you think? Should I do the honors or do you want to?" the second girl asked the first.

The girl apparently named Sunaziki pulled something large out of the fountain. It was a sickle. "I'll do it, Yugi. I don't think Diamond would like it very much if you did it." she said, drawing the sickle up to its full height. 0016 jumped off the statue. Sunaziki walked up to 0016.

"So, Blue, we meet again. Where's you're counterpart? Last time I checked, you were still friends." Then she saw 004. "Oh, I'm sorry for not introducing myself, gentlemen. My name is Sunaziki, and this is Yugi. You all are?"

The second girl, who at last emerged completely from the shadows, grinned at them. Her hair was almost as long as she was tall. 0016 stood up on the statue, balancing her weight.

"Don't you dare, Blue. I happen to know that now you're called 0016. May I called you that also?" Yugi asked, walking closer to 0016. She, too, noticed one of the other cyborgs. Without being called for, Sunaziki caught 0016's neck in the curve of her sickle and pulled the blade.

"That bastard. I had to pretend that she was him. I'm sorry it had to be done though, Yugi." Sunaziki told no one. "To tell you, you're looking at the present. Does it disturb you?"

Joe couldn't put what he had just witnessed into words. So that had really just happened, it wasn't his wild imagination. The two unearthly girls standing before him were human, like he used to be.

"I wouldn't say that if I were you." Sunaziki said, now holding the sickle at her side. "You don't even know that we're human yet."

"But I didn't say anything!" Joe exclaimed, shocked.

"You were thinking that. I must be leaving, but I leave you with these two items." Sunaziki told Joe, pulling two things out of one of her pockets. One was a blood-red feather and the other was a playing card, specifically the ace of hearts. Joe accepted them, but GB was unsure.

"Don't worry, I didn't do anything to them." Sunaziki commented, wheeling around. "That's a phoenix feather, in case you're wondering."

"We shall see you some time in the future, gentlemen. You will return home as soon as we're gone." Yugi told them, and with a flash of light, she and Sunaziki were gone. Something fell with a loud clunk out of one of the trees. It turned out to be Diamond. Her eyes snapped open and she sat bolt upright.

Opal came walking down a path coming from the left. Sapphire jumped out of another tree. She briefly looked at the two items in Joe's hand.

"Let's get back to the Dolphin, shall we?" Sapphire asked, "It's no use being here."

And with that, the ground whirled and the Dolphin came into view. One second later, they were all standing inside the Dolphin.

Alex rushed out to greet them, followed by Spinel and Morgan. Without even thinking, Morgan gasped, "You defeated 0016! How?!"

"Two people I know very well, from what I can draw from the evidence 009 has, helped. Possibly did it all." Diamond said, walking in.

"So, then, that's it?" Spinel asked, unsure.

"Sure is." Sapphire snapped. "Now let's do something we'd all like."

"What's that, Sapphire?" Albert asked.

"Watch me wake up and kiss 002." Sapphire replied, running into the infirmary. Everyone followed her in. Sapphire seized Jet's collar, and he jerked into consciousness. Looking at who did it, he flushed instantly. Sapphire grinned and relief washed into her face.

"May I?" he asked, sitting up.

"Why the hell else would I wake you up?" Sapphire asked him back. He kissed her. She returned the kiss.

Later at dinner, Sapphire was sitting next to Jet, a first. Aquamarine had found a nice place under the table, where she and Topaz were signing a peace treaty. When everyone was finished at it was time for desert, Garnet crashed through a wall and held up a large tray of ice cream sundaes and root beer floats. Jet felt ready to kiss her too, but Sapphire was giving him the look of death.

Zircon celebrated by making the ceiling imitate a starry night sky. As a side show, Britain stood up and started to impromptu dance. Both Topaz and Aquamarine poked their heads out to see.

After all the excitement, both Topaz and Pearl made their way outside. Ten minutes later, they called everyone else out. When they all got there, Topaz was standing on the water with Pearl next to her. Aquamarine knew what was going on, so she counted down for them.

In total synchronization, a dazzling display of blue fireworks exploded in the sky. Sea creatures danced through the water, maneuvering so they filled where the fireworks didn't. Aquamarine grinned and joined them. Fantastic geysers of water shot upward. As if on cue, Sapphire and Jet kissed. Morgan filled in by making it sound like there was a crowd sighing with pleasure.

Far above them, Mika smiled. Her job was done. But her life was far from being normal.

IT'S OVER! FADE TO BLUE IS DONE! Maybe not, but this story is! Check out Playing With a Full Deck, if you get the chance! There WILL be a sequel to Fade to Blue as soon as Playing With a Full Deck is close to being completed!

- In Playing With a Full Deck, this isn't how Amber arrives. Yugi and Sunaziki are also in P.W.A.F.D., just FYI. Whee, abbreviations! I got the idea from Brigadoon.

Thanks SO much to all my reviewers! Until the sequel!

-Mika

P.S. – The sequel will be called Shades of Green. I think. Unless my priorities change...


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